Desire
by Olyvyadarling
Summary: An enemy thought to have been secured away for all eternity has returned, and they have discovered that Jak and Daxter are very much alive. They will do whatever it takes to make the duo suffer for their arrogance - even if means targeting those dear to them.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story I have been working on off and on since 2005. (Cripes, I'm old) I did have a beta for several chapters, but I kind of disappeared on her due to some seriously heavy depression. She was wonderfully patient with me for the few chapters she had beta'd. Although she did not beta me through the entire story, she still needs mentioned. Sedgehammer, thank you. 3**

**This story is a resubmittion (is that even a word?), but has completely veered off course from what I had written nearly ten years ago. This is a very long story - It is an eventual Torn x OC. The focus for the first couple of chapters will not be on Torn, but it does set up the story. Please read, and leave some feedback. :) I made the name Mar into a surname, and several of the characters have last names now.**

**~Oly~**

* * *

"What do you want, Fae?"

Fae stood in the office entryway, her closed fist hovering over the door frame to knock when her employer spoke. The question startled the young woman; no matter how often this interaction occurred, Fae could never get use to it - unnerving how aware the Crime Lord was at all times, even knee deep in conversation.

The secretary willed herself to step through the threshold of the cramped quarters; she never liked entering the office. It smelled of sweat, liquor and cheap cigars, permeating from the furniture and walls. Likely from the less than savory men and women the Crime Lord entertained at all hours of the day. Fae knew how powerful Rayn truly was, and yet for reasons unknown, she will not forbid her associates from their vices excluding hemo. That product was never allowed any where near Rayn's residences - with good reason.

Rayn looked up from her paperwork, a frown tracing her features when Fae remained silent, standing in front of her desk appearing nervous and twitchy. She had lost her patience more than once with the younger woman; from the looks of it, today wouldn't be any different.

"Well, spit it out already. I don't have time for your foolishness."

Fae jumped slightly, and nodded, holding out her hands for Rayn to see. "I-I'm sorry Miss Rayn, but this arrived for you earlier today from Haven City."

Rayn glanced at the item in her secretary's hands. It was a plain package wrapped in brown paper and twine. She curled her lip at the seemingly innocent parcel; she was no fool and would not open it herself. Noting the time from the clock on her desk, Rayn sighed tiredly and returned her attention to the mounds of paperwork laying in front of her. "I'm sure it is harmless considering you decided now to bring it to my attention instead of when it arrived three hours ago, but better safe than sorry I say." Rayn glanced up at Fae once more with a smirk playing across her lips, "You know the drill."

Fae wanted to protest, knowing her words would go in one ear and out the other, she gritted her teeth and nodded at her employer before leaving the room with the package in hand to open it herself. To Fae's surprise, the tiny box appeared on the doorstep while she was out to lunch. The mail carrier arrives early in the mornings - Fae knew this as fact, and he knocks if he has a package for her employer. Earlier, the guard sitting against the wall next to Rayn's office door shrugged when Fae asked about the mail before stuffing his face back into his magazine.

_Useless_. Fae thought bitterly, glaring hard at the top of the guard's balding head from behind her desk. She carefully set the box onto the desk and exhaled heavily, a knot forming tightly in her stomach. She knew checking all packages was part of her job, but knowing didn't make the act any less stressful. Shouldn't this had been in the guard's job description? It would be very interesting for Fae to put in her resume "parcel checker - explosives" as part of her job experiences.

A peaceful silence fell over Rayn's office allowing the woman to concentrate on business at hand, but her peace did not last long. Five minutes passed before she heard a vague familiar voice coming from the foyer. Rayn stood and walked to the doorway to view her secretary standing above the hologram of her late father, Krew.

"What is this? Why didn't you come and get me?" She stepped further into the room to view the hologram from the other side of the safety glass, the explosives room was set in the corner of her office entryway for occasions such as this. The guard moved to stand next to Rayn, grinning foolishly at Fae's ridiculous costume.

"Bring it out here." Rayn looked over at the guard, pointing toward the front door. "You. Outside. Take a cigarette break." The guard frowned in annoyance, snatching up his newspaper and left the room. "Imbecile." She muttered before returning her attention to Fae.

Fae ventured from the makeshift room, and set the hologram on her desk. "It was playing as soon as I opened the box." She stood before her employer in a bomb suit that was obviously far too large for her. She pushed the helmet up and leaned back to view Rayn before stepping away from the desk to strip off the gear.

"-The book tells of a vast collection of-" Rayn walked up to the desk and pressed the play button again, looping the message back to the beginning.

Rayn's father flickered into existence once again, his large frame set in a hovering chair, fanning himself haughtily. He glared into the recording hologram, and for a moment his daughter felt like he was alive once again, his grating personality looming oppressively in the room.

_"Rayn, it has been well over a decade since my death. By now, you have more than likely established yourself as the Crime Lord of our beloved Kras City, and have many associates throughout our world. I know for a fact that you are successful; you share my blood after all, hmm?_" Krew paused to chuckle and breath heavily from the exertion of speaking.

_"You probably assumed that you had received the last of your inheritance years ago at the circuit races, but I do have one last thing for you to acquire, ey? This project will be incredibly immense, but when it is all over, you will also have control of the largest dark eco reserve left in the entire world."_

At his last statement, Rayn's heart dropped into her stomach in sheer excitement and disbelief. An uncovered dark eco reserve? What were the odds? Rayn looked over at her secretary standing by the desk, chewing on her fingernails while listening intently to the message.

"Are you writing this down?" Rayn snapped her fingers in Fae's face. Fae jumped, nodding as she sat at her desk, and began setting up her computer to dictate the message. Concentration set on her face as she tried to catch up on the information being handed out.

_"You will need to assemble a team to retrieve and study a book, ey? The book tells of a vast collection of dark eco hidden somewhere near Haven City. It was written hundreds of years ago by an eco sage. You can go into the details with a bibliographer. I was in the process of harassing the best of the best regarding the book, but alas, my time has been cut short. I know I will be going to my impending death within the next hour. This is the last recording you will ever receive from me."_

_"The book has been retired to the Kras City Museum. You will need to acquire it from the museum's archives located in the bowels of the building. I specifically requested it be placed there for safekeeping until you are ready to retrieve it. Most likely, you will not be allowed to adventure into the building freely any longer."_

_"Within this hologram is a picture of the book, and a map of the museum. I do hope they haven't moved the archives within the last decade." _Krew paused fondly in thought. _"But, knowing our dear city, they wouldn't have been able to afford it, ey?"_ He smirked calmly, fanning himself in the process. _"This book was actually the last treasure I had my team retrieve from deep within the sewers of Dead Town. It is a very rare, irreplaceable book so do handle it with care hrmm, my dear? All my love."_

The hologram shut itself off momentarily before starting again, displaying what appeared to be a large leather tome. It was hard to depict the title with the old technology her father had used to record the message. Moving in front of the sunlit window to cast a shadow on the hologram, Rayn was able to able to see the faint scripture etched across the front of the book.

"The Precursor Legacy." She mumbled out loud. "As told by the Blue Eco Sage of Rock Village."

The book disappeared from her view, and was immediately replaced by the building plans of the museum. The layout looked simple enough for your average thief, but Rayn knew better than to doubt the security of the building; especially with much of the old precursor technology now residing within its walls. She would need to find someone capable of disrupting the doors, force fields, and cameras- She knew she would require the services of a hacker.

As she paced the small carpeted area in front of her secretary's desk, the plans were falling in place like pieces of a puzzle. The team would be small. No more than six dedicated people, including herself. She hadn't personally been involved in acquiring any of her collection in years. Quite frankly she was bored, and the job seemed manageable enough. Rayn smiled, a wave of ideas forming in her head. If this book was as important as her father deemed than she could not delay in planning to retrieve it.

She had so many questions, but none that could be answered by anyone but her father, and he was far from being alive. Why did he not tell her about the book in his will? Why was it in Kras City Museum, and not already in her possession? Oh, but the answers were obvious to her: It was her father's last ditch effort to challenge his only heir, just as he did when she was younger; when her mind was still easily molded by his influence.

Who was she kidding? Father _still_ had authority over her years after his death, especially in her handling of the family business. _What would father do? Would father approve?_ The woman turned away from Fae's desk, her heels clicking faintly in the hallway. She promptly ignored her secretary trying to speak to her as she left the room.

Closing the door to her office, Rayn leaned against its cool surface, organizing her thoughts. Truly, Krew's influence has lead to Rayn's success in the criminal's world, but it did not mean it would last forever. Momentarily, doubt planted its seed in her mind. Would this object of her desire really be worth the trouble?

She chewed on her lower lip, a nervous habit she had unknowingly picked up over her lifetime. The answer weighed heavily on her shoulders. She needed to do this; not only because she was bored, but she knew the power she once had over the city was waning, thanks to Haven City's witch of a governor, Ashelin Praxis- now ironically Ashelin Mar, and her Commander, Torn Nolan.

With Haven's help, the newest Governor of Kras, Tyro, had begun stealing her territories from under her feet. Rayn couldn't count on one hand how many goons she had lost over the last five years, and how much money and control she had lost from the city.

What hurt her business the most was the racing circuit: the city took control of every aspect of racing that had earned her money; cutting her and other crime lords from participating in the gambling and funding of racing teams. She had to resort to more drastic and risky business plans. The most dire was the introduction of intravenous injections of dark eco, more commonly known on the streets as hemo. If she were able to find the dark eco silo, her drug trade would blossom, allowing her to push it farther than her reaches of the tri-city trade route.

Her power of the trade would be exponential as no one would be able to compete with her near endless supply. Slipping away from the door, Rayn returned to her desk where her communicator laid charging. The decision was final. It was time to contact her team.

* * *

The days following Krew's message were filled with a frenzy of closed meetings between Rayn and her chosen operatives. A failed plan is one not studied from all angles, and not back by another. She would not fall victim to defeat as she had on the eco trade route raid conducted the year before. Of course, anything involving the damned freak and his precursor seemed to always doomed to fail.

She knew the dark warrior didn't take too kindly to her past lies and schemes which made Jak and his obnoxious pet all the more aggressive when they showed up on her raid. With sheer dumb luck, she caught Jak off guard as he changed from freak show back into his normal self, shooting him twice, in his abdomen, and in the shoulder. While he writhed in pain on the ground, his blood soaking into the sand, she made her escape in her dune buggy with only a hint of regret on the back of her mind for what she had just done. All that matter at that moment was her escape.

Many of her soldiers weren't so lucky, unfortunately. Some were still locked away, and some were dead from Jak's crazed tirade. Thankfully her favorite muscle, Finn, had returned to her services. He would be at her side the day of the heist. If Jak did decide to show his face at the museum, she would be more than ready, and Finn would definitely be waiting for a rematch.

Rayn once again sat behind her desk, this time studying her secretary situated across from her. Fae's glasses slipped down her nose, strands of her dull brown hair falling in her face, she nervously twiddled her thumbs in her lap. Rayn's crazy idea to include Fae in the plans was just that: crazy, but her options were vague, and Fae fit the bill of the timid, unnoticeable scientist. She relied on Fae more than many of her associates; the girl was smart, and Rayn trusted that she would get the job done the first time around.

Rayn leaned back in her chair, sighing and looking slightly weary, preparing herself for the incoming frantic questions Fae was about to unleash on her. "You're fired." She finally managed to clip out, internally wincing at the idea of Fae no longer working directly under her. She knew it was a fallacy on her part, but the idea of temporarily hurting one of the few people she cared for didn't sit right with her. Rayn steeled her will, and waited for Fae's reaction. Her darling secretary had to grow up sometime, what better way than putting her through a bit of stress?

Fae's jaw dropped, her eyes nearly bulging out of her skull in disbelief. "I-I'm- come again?"

"You're no longer my secretary. As of today, you will go undercover for me as a conservator at the museum. I will pay you double what I pay you now, and once your mission is completed, you can return to my services or... be on your way. The choice is yours, Love."

Fae stood up, resting her palms on the surface of the desk, she leaned forward, voice near quivering in anger and frustration as she spoke. "I didn't ask to be included in your scheme."

Rayn gave the girl a tight smile. "You weren't given a choice." She stood and moved to her bar, stooping to pull a chilled glass from the freezer below the counter top. She began making her favorite drink, a vodka martini. As she pour and mixed, she continued her speech, "I pulled you off the streets, gave you employment, and a roof over your head. I believe that doing this job for me will be an adequate repayment-" Rayn returned her gaze to Fae, searching her now emotionless face. What a facade. Rayn knew a storm of anger and doubt brewed in that pretty little mind of hers. Oh, she looked forward to bringing out the vixen in the girl. "Don't you think?"

"Why me? You have all these people under your control, and yet you choose me who is more than likely to fuck up and ruin everything." Fae tapped her fingers to her chest, emphasizing her lowly stature on Rayn's totem pole. "I'm a clerk - the roach under your shoe. Some days, I don't know why you pulled me out of the slums. I-"

"Because I see potential in you." Rayn interrupted. Calmly, she explained herself, trying not to throw the drink in Fae's face with the child's utter lack of gratitude. "To be better than the mousy little girl that you are. I took you in, and now I'm giving you an opportunity to change the direction your life is going. What do you say, Love?" She returned to her seat, sipping on the drink clutched in her hands. " Are you in?"

"I guess I am, considering I have no other choice." Fae muttered, she looked down at the floor in uncertainty, sinking further into her seat.

"Chin up, Fae, and for precursor's sake, sit up properly." Rayn barked. "You need to learn to be more aggressive - more confident. Trust me, with a bit of time and practice under your belt, you will be able to fool the museum employees into thinking you're one of them. Now, moving on - one of my most reliable contacts was a curator at Haven's University, until he recently hooked himself on hemo. He quit his job the month before because he's come to realize that he can't hide his addiction any longer. Truly tragic." Rayn paused to sip her drink again, uncaring at the idea of the Curator struggling with a drug that she created. " He will be relocating to Kras to train you, and he will help me rig up the paperwork required for you to get hired on with the museum."

Admitting Fae was way under qualified, and not to mention, scared of what Rayn wanted her to do would not phase the Crime Lord. Instead it would incite a spew of choice words in her direction about 'manning up', and 'taking one for the team'. Fae sighed, defeated and feeling more like an indentured servant than ever before. "I'm ready when you need me." The words came out of her mouth without thought, and she silently fumed at the satisfied look on Rayn's face.

"Good, until the Curator's arrival, you are going shopping. Time for a makeover, Lana."

* * *

**Eight months later**

"Seriously, Ashelin? You're really going to make me wear this?" Jak stood next to his wife, gazing into the mirror at the emerald colored cummerbund adorning his waist. He tugged at the uncomfortably tight collar; a black bow tie fastened around his neck. He felt ridiculous in the get up. Not to mention his feet hurt already from the pinching dress shoes.

His wife was invited to a charity ball, and of course, he had the unfortunate luck of having to attend with her. He hinted at making Torn her date as he was in the public eye more than Jak, but Ashelin would have none of his begging or excuses. To Jak, there was nothing more painful or boring than dealing with the higher class. He was thankful to have Daxter and Tess tagging along; at least Daxter would keep him entertained.

"Yes." Ashelin clipped earrings into her earlobes, and pushed her hair over her shoulder, studying her features in the mirror. She turned to a pouting Jak, his gaze was concentrated on the mirror in front of them as he listened to his wife's words of reason. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but that's what you get for marrying the leader of the city." She placed her hand on his back, smoothing the wrinkling fabric of his dress shirt as she winked at him. "You're royalty anyway. The great hero, Mar, attending a charity is serious P.R. for Haven."

"That doesn't count. We all know people only interact with me because they have to." Jak grumbled before stepping away from his wife's reassuring embrace in search of his suit jacket. He had it sitting on the bed, and now it had mysteriously disappeared. Maybe it was a sign he didn't have to go. His moment of victory was crushed once Ashelin spoke again."Your jacket is in the closet. I didn't want it getting wrinkled so I hung it up."

Jak walked over to find his jacket exactly where she said it would be. He pulled it off its hanger and swung it around his back, pushing his arms through the sleeves. He tugged down and forward on the coat to adjust what little comfort he had in the abomination of fabric.

"How the hell do you do that?"

Ashelin looked up from the mirror and blinked in confusion at Jak. "Do what?"

"Know exactly what I'm looking for?"

Ashelin smirked. "When you've been married to the same person for over a decade, you tend to know them better than they know themselves."

Jak shrugged his shoulders and gave a nod in agreement. He couldn't argue her claim because she was right. Some days he wondered how in the world he survived his teenage years in the city without his wife around to snap at him to clean up. He shuddered at the thought of his apartment and the mess that had accumulated in it when he had only himself and Daxter to take care of- take out and clothes everywhere. Then again, he would fall into bed every night exhausted from long hard days, not caring where his shirt or boots were flung to only to repeat the process again the next day. Being busy was enough of an excuse for him.

He glanced at the clock situated on the nightstand. Unfortunately for him, it was nearly time to be dragged to Kras City Hall. "I'm going to call Keira and make sure Aiden hasn't blown up the house yet."

"I'm sure she would have called us if that were the case." Ashelin replied nonchalantly as she began applying eyeliner. Jak watched, fascinated and amused at the faces Ashelin had to make to drag the coal colored liquid across her eyelid in a straight line. Ashelin blinked slowly, and studied her appearance before meeting Jak's gaze in the mirror. "You shouldn't be worried, Jak."

"I figured she'd call by now - that's why I'm worried." He picked up his communicator from the bureau and dialed Keira's number. It rang several times before a young girl's voice belted through the speaker in sheer excitement.

"Dad!" Jak gave Ashelin a quizzical look at the sound of his daughter's oddly cheerful voice. More than likely, she was up to no good. She wouldn't have answered the communicator so sweetly if she weren't.

"Aiden, why are you answering Aunt Keira's phone? What are you up to?"

A soft giggle echoed through the speaker before his eleven year old spoke again as only a pre-teen could: with as much snottiness laced through her words as possible. "We're playing hide and seek, duh."

The ottsel standing on the young girl's shoulder began making attempts to steal the communicator from her grasp, stuffing her paw in Aiden's face, and tickling her ear with the tip of her tail. "Stooooop, Dee." Aiden whined, rubbing her ear against her shoulder from the irritation, she glared hard at Delilah. "I'm trying to talk to my dad."

"I want to talk to my dad too, ya jerk." Delilah crossed her arms, and sat on Aiden shoulder dramatically.

"He didn't call, you turd. My dad did."

"He's probably with Uncle Jak! Let me talk to him."

"Girls! Stop the arguing. Put Keira on the phone now.""I don't know where she is." Aiden smirked at Delilah, knowing fully where Keira was located, but where was the fun in revealing the truth?

Jak knew better than to trust the words that spilled from his rule breaking child's mouth. "Aiden." Jak warned. "Where is your Aunt?" He could almost see the exaggerated eye roll from his young spawn.

Aiden huffed, "Fine. I'll get her." He heard whispering; moments later, muffled yelling, and finally a door being opened. "Dad's on the phone." Aiden's voice chirped and echoed through the speaker.

An exasperated Keira retrieved her communicator before she frowned down at the adolescent and her very tiny, fuzzy friend. They both gave Keira an innocent, confused look. "Aiden, go in your room with Dee until I'm done on the phone." The mechanic snapped harshly at the girls.

"Keira?"

"Jak." Frustration very noticeable in her voice."When are you coming home again?" Jak almost felt sorry for his impromptu babysitter considering she not only had to deal with his brat, but Daxter's as well. The two together promised hell on earth, but Keira agreed to this, so he really didn't have _that_ much sympathy.

"We haven't even been gone the entire day. What did they do to you?"

Keira leaned against the wall ticking off the list with her fingers. "Oh, well you know - put a mysterious brown substance in my boots, cut holes in my brand new jacket and just locked me in the bathroom. Only the usual."

"So you haven't learned your lesson yet about leaving stuff out for them to get a hold of?" Jak mused. "And how in the world did she lock you in the bathroom? The lock is on the inside."

"Oh, I'm sorry... I thought her parents would have taught her to respect other people's property by now. " Keira snarled back. She looked at the bathroom door to her left, noticing scratches around the door handle. "The girls ran upstairs earlier. They told me they were going to watch a movie. I'm thinking they switched the doorknob around for the sole purpose of locking me in-" Keira paused in thought and sighed heavily, "You know what, Jak? I think this is the last time I'm going to watch them. My wits can't handle this anymore."

"Keira, calm down. Listen, I'm really sorry. She shouldn't be acting this way. I'll handle it when we get back from Kras tomorrow night. I'll pay for your coat too, but you're on your own with the shoes. If she gives you too much trouble, call us or Dax and Tess. And don't forget, you have our permission to correct her and Delilah."

"Fine. I'll probably talk to you later tonight. Have fun at the ball." Keira mocked knowing fully that Jak was not happy to be stuck at a party. She secretly hoped he was as miserable as she was.

"Heaps" Jak replied dryly. "Later, and good luck." He tossed the communicator on the bed and sighed. They really needed to figure out what to do with Aiden. She seemed to be getting worse and worse every time they turned around, and no form of punishment or reward system seemed to be working. Between fights at her school, the constant tricks she pulled on everyone who crossed her path - Jak was beginning to think they created a monster in the form of a blonde eleven year old elf. Delilah's constant goading didn't help matters either.

"She really does need to go to military school."

Jak looked up sharply at his wife, his brow furrowed in surprise at her unexpected statement."What? I thought we were trying to avoid her getting involved with the system?"

"I know." Ashelin picked up her pocketbook and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. "At this point, what other option do we have? Since Torn took over command of the school last year, maybe he can help us."

Jak was silent for a moment, processing the idea slowly. He agreed with Ashelin. He just hoped it would actually work for their benefit. If not, the last thing they could do is to wait out Aiden's obvious troublemaker phase, but Jak's level of patience wasn't that great to begin with. He didn't know how he'd be able to handle a few more years of disrespect.

Ashelin interrupted his thoughts. "We'll just have to discuss it at a better time. How do I look." Ashelin twirled slowly for Jak to examine. She was dressed in an emerald colored chiffon dress. Her dreaded hair was styled and pulled back over her bared right shoulder. The diamond necklace Jak had given her for their fifth anniversary accentuated her tattooed collarbones.

As always, she looked unbelievably stunning. Jak knew he was one lucky man to have Ashelin Praxis for a life partner. "Wow," Jak spoke appreciatively. "You are absolutely beautiful."

"Less like a man?" Ashelin smiled coyly which prompted a light chuckle from her spouse. As a toddler, Aiden once asked Ashelin if she were a man as she had never seen her mother dressed in anything but leather and guns, nor did her mother act like your typical feminine woman. Ashelin could not understand where she had learned of gender stereotypes; she then realized that all of the women in Aiden's life worked in what society would deem as "men's work". Television was very limited for the youngster after that fiasco.

Jak slinked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, enjoying the warmth of her curves. "I, for one, know you are definitely not a man." He kissed her on the lips softly before pulling away with a slight frown at a random thought popping into his head. "There isn't going to be dancing is there?"

Ashelin laughed. "Yeah, sorry tough guy. I'll have to subject you to a couple of songs. Please don't stomp on my feet."

"I can't promise anything."

"I don't get it - You are the most flexible, coordinated person in the world, but get you on the dance floor and you trip over yourself. It's a mystery."

"My reintegration into society never involved table side manners, or dancing - Just violence and shooting shit." Jak quipped, a wire grin set on his face.

Ashelin rolled her eyes at the blatant fib. She knew he would do fine with the crowds. It didn't take long in their relationship for Ashelin to refine Jak's nasty attitude with people. A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. The voice of Daxter filtered into the room through the door.

"Yo Jak! Let's get this party started, big guy."

Ashelin looked over at Jak with a small scowl on her face. "He is not drinking tonight."

Jak put his hands up defensively, "Hey, I'm not charge of him any more. Tess will deal with him just fine."

"She'd better. Family or not, if he embarrasses me tonight, I will throttle him, then you'll be next."

Jak ignored her threat and walked around her to open the door. Both men eyed each others suits and laughed. "You look ridiculous." Daxter exclaimed, making his way up to Jak's shoulder to lean on his head. "Nice bowtie, big guy." He stuck his foot out and nudged at Jak's bow to mess with him.

Jak pushed Daxter's paw out of his face, observing Daxter's outfit carefully, his eyes narrowed in question. "Where are your pants?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Daxter mumbled.

"Hmm, I sense a child with claws has something to do with your lack of pants." Jak mused, a smirk crossing his face.

Daxter pulled his coat down as far as he could over his tail. "I said I don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry we're late." Tess walked into the room behind Daxter, wearing a pink haltered dress and a matching bolero jacket. "I just talked to Keira. That poor girl is suffering." She pouted slightly.

"We know. Those girls are going to make us all go gray before we know it." Ashelin replied. "But, Keira knows she can discipline if need be. I'm not going to worry about it right now. Let's go and enjoy ourselves for once. Limo should be here by now." She bent down at the knees and allowed Tess to step onto her hand.

"Jak," Daxter whispered into his best friend's ear. "Kill me now. I'm not allowed to drink. How am I going to entertain myself at this snoozefest?"

"Do what you do best, Dax: talk my ear off. It'll keep me having to bump elbows with these socialites. . . Just don't embarrass Ashelin. She told me tonight that she'll kill us both."

Daxter frowned and suddenly looked very depressed. "Sheesh, everyone's a party pooper. Is it over yet?"

"Sorry, bud. Not for another five hours."

"Ashelin can kill me now if she wants."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Couldn't wait a week to get another chapter up. Lol. Enjoy!**

* * *

Today, Rayn would have her prize.

She had planned for the heist on the day of the Governor's charity ball where currently most of his Guard was distracted. She was confident, and determined that everything would go accordingly. She easily walked through the front doors of the museum with her muscle by her side. Finn clutched her hand in his grasp pretending to be a loving spouse. They chatted about a variety of things as they moved, ignoring the Guard's warnings of the museum's closing time. Finn gave the man a nod in acknowledgment of the time.

The disguise Rayn wore was simple, donning a long brunette colored wig, and casual street clothing. She appeared less conspicuous than her usual ornament adorned hairstyle and pant suits. The pair walked toward back of the museum where they knew the entrance to the basement resided, and they waited, pretending to be interested in the dull modern art situated on the walls next to the basement.

An old man, shriveled and gray, walked slowly into the front lobby, hobbling his way passed the guard positioned at the door. "Museum closes in fifteen minutes, Sir."

The old man reached to his hearing aid, turning it up. He loudly asked, "What's that?"

Rayn looked up at Finn, hearing the conversation in her ear piece before she hugged herself to him and mumbled, "Dartmouth is here." She pressed her thumb into the button in her palm, connecting her to the hacker. "Two minutes, Arlo. Loop the video feed."

The guard repeated himself, and the old man chuckled. "Just taking a quick peek around. I'll be out of your hair in a few minutes, I promise." He shuffled away slowly and stood next to the wall across from the lobby doors. He groaned, and shook, clutching at his chest; he dropped to his knees, his cane clattered to the ground alerting the guard he had spoken to.

The lobby guard rushed to Darthmouth's side, radioing the other guards in the building. "I need emergency medical assistance at the front lobby." The timing couldn't have been any better as two guards opened the basement doors with medical kits in hand, not checking the door was properly closed before rushing away.

Finn casually walked up to the door, knowing that he couldn't be seen from the cameras above him, and pushed the door open fully, allowing Rayn to enter before him. She continued down the stairs and waited for Finn at the door. Finn pounded on the security room door situated near the basement entrance; the door clicked allowing him to kick it open to the surprise of the lone guard in the room. The guard fell to the ground unable to react before Finn descended upon him, knocking him out.

"All clear, Rayn." Finn cuffed the unconscious man with his own handcuffs, and grabbed the keys off his belt before pulling the door closed behind him. He reached Rayn just as the door slid open.

Mirth dancing in her eyes, Rayn looked up at Finn with a smile. "Come now, Love. Let's get my book."

Fae was nervous. She knew today was the day, and she knew that Rayn would soon be making her way down to her, but it didn't make the situation any less stressful. She had grown fond of the men and women she was forced to work with for the past seven months. She hoped that Rayn would not hurt any of of them, but she knew better. She knew how bloodthirsty the Crime Lord had become, and how willing she was to kill to get exactly what she wanted. The only thing Fae could really do to ensure no life was lost was to have the book out and ready to go before Rayn's arrival.

She sat at her desk, the lamp glaring harshly over the three books she had chosen to clean and transcribe. The book in question was never touched, but there it sat in its locked container, heavily imposing on her every thought. It took her months to find the damned thing - tucked deeply away in the thousands of unorganized books. The ancient text really didn't look that special, but if Rayn was that desperate to gain back control of the city, she'd chase after any ideas no matter how ludicrous they seemed. Fae looked up through the window in the room in time to see Finn shoving her fellow employee against the wall, waving a gun in his face. She didn't know what was being said, but she knew that they were waiting for her to make an appearance.

The colored drained from Fae's face, and she swallowed harshly, her thoughts racing, trying to remember how the plan was to proceed. Her throat suddenly became very dry; she stood quickly, the stool she sat on toppled over. Her eyes caught sight of the panic button on the wall by the door. She knew she should press it, but she didn't believe in betrayal nor did she believe in failure. If anything, she knew that one of the other conservators would find a way to make contact with someone outside their prison.

She finally breathed, pulling herself together to maintain her role in the heist, and opened the door. "What's the meaning of this?" Fae demanded, stepping into the hallway. "Put him down, leave him alone."

"Lana, get out of here." The conservator choked out under Finn's grip.

"Shut your face, scientist." Finn growled into the man's face. Fae could see the fear in his eyes, guilt harshly tugged at her heart.

"Hello," Rayn smiled brightly at the woman staring her down defiantly from the doorway. Rayn was incredibly impressed with Fae's acting. "My name is Rayn. I'm looking for something. A book in particular; help me find it and I'll be on my merry way."

"I handle the book preservation. I will help you, but please, leave my co - workers alone."

Rayn's lips thinned into a grimace at Fae's words, "Put him down, Finn." She looked behind her to see her muscle drop the conservator on the ground. "Gather the rest of the employees, I will go with this woman."

Out of the corner of her eye, Fae could see a female employee in the opposite room. She was on her communicator, gazing at the group from behind the wall. She pretended not to notice, instead motioning Rayn to follow her. "This way, please." She turned into the room she had come from, Rayn closing in behind her.

"You're doing well, Love." Rayne spoke as Fae closed the door behind them. " I saw the girl in the other room. We've not much time before the Guard shows up."

Fae nodded, moving to the desk. "Here is the book. The key to get into the box is down the hallway in the Curator's office. Have Arlo open the door, and I will retrieve it."

"How many people are in the basement now?"

"Four. Myself, the man in the hall, the woman in the room across from me, and the Curator. I will go into his office and ask him for the key for your book. I'm only allowed to have one book out of its container at a time."

"The Guard has already been alerted to your presence, Rayne." Arlo spoke. His attention focused on the myriad of zoomers with flashing emergency lights entering his camera view. "The Governor will be arriving shortly."

"Perfect. Thank you, Arlo." Rayne replied. She returned her attention to Fae. "Gather the Curator, and the keys. We'll take the book out of its case when it's placed in my possession. Let's make haste."

* * *

Boring. Dull. Stupid. Disinteresting. Jak ran out of words to describe how he felt about the party minutes into the ball. He was quite sure Daxter was beginning to pull fur from his tail at one point to keep himself entertained, only to be quietly reprimanded by his wife. Now Daxter sat next to Jak, slumped in his chair making napkin origami, and chattering about anything that would cross his mind.

Jak quietly sympathized with his friend. He was relieved that most of the people invited chose to ignore him while he walked around the room with his social butterfly of a wife who chatted with anyone who approached the couple. Jak had excused himself to return to their table after the first two circles around the room, and watched Ashelin smiling and interacting with Governor Tyro and his wife. Eventually, he observed a guard approach the Governor, whispering in his ear.

Tyro blanch at the whispered words. He turned to Ashelin, uncertainty evident in his voice. "Governor Mar, a word please."

Ashelin glanced toward Jak, giving him a puzzled look before moving to join Tyro in the hall. His wife, Maura, stood next to him quietly, but judging from the look on her face, she was not happy with the situation occurring. Tyro was distraught, sweat glazing his face making him look sickly.

He wiped at his brow with a handkerchief, stuffing it into the inner pocket of his dinner jacket as he spoke. "I must see to a burglary taking place at the museum this very moment. Will you help my wife keep the guests entertained until my return?"

Ashelin nodded. "Of course, I can do that for you. Do you know who is at the museum?"

"Only the bane of the city's existence, Rayn and a team of her cronies. Many of the employees managed to escape, but there appears to be an unknown number of hostages trapped within the lower levels of the museum. I don't know what she's looking for, but we can't wait to find out. I have special services positioned outside the museum waiting on my orders."

"That woman never quits." Ashelin frowned, "Allow my husband to help you. We've dealt with her on more than one occasion over the last ten years. Jak knows well as to how she works."

Tyro nodded in agreement, "On one condition, I know the damage your husband has caused to not only Haven, but to my city as well. Be sure that he stays in check with his... powers. There are many priceless things within the museum trusted to Kras from your council. Tell him to meet me in my office." He turned leaving Ashelin and Maura alone.

"I am so tired of this damned woman." Maura snarled, keeping in step with Ashelin in return to the dining hall. She looked up at Ashelin with a deadly look in her eyes. "I hope your husband ends her tonight."

Ashelin merely glared at her before separating to find Jak. He was still where she had left him, sitting well away from the crowds in the corner of the Governor's table, watching the people entertaining themselves in the hall. She walked around the table and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "You're needed at the museum. Rayn is trying to take something from the building."

Jak stood, hesitant surprise laced through his question. "You volunteered me?"

"You know Rayn better than any of Tyro's guard." Ashelin clipped impatiently. "Plus I know you want out of here. Get going; meet Tyro in his office." Jak grinned hard, he leaned in and kissed Ashelin deeply. "You're the best wife a man could ask for."

Ashelin rolled her eyes, "Just go already before I change my mind." She planted a hand on her hip, obviously annoyed at her husband. She softened her harsh glare. "Be careful, please. Don't wreck or destroy anything. Orders from Tyro, and myself."

With a nod, Jak turned his attention to a sulking Daxter playing with his food next to him, "Dax, come on. We got unfinished business to take care of."

"Oh thank God we're leaving." Daxter practically shouted. "Later losers." Daxter scrambled up Jak's shoulder and turned to blow a kiss to his wife. "See you in a bit, Tessie-poo."

Jak trotted down the hall to Tyro's office. The guard at the door allowed him through. Tyro was on the phone speaking to the City Commander. "No one is to enter the building until I arrive. I have a hostage negotiator, and the Dark Warrior with me... No, she is far too dangerous. I'll be there in ten minutes." He slammed the phone back on its cradle. "Let's move. Jak, I have your weapon." He tossed the gun into Jak's hands and motioned for him to follow out the door. "Saw you checking it at the door. I don't think I've seen you without it since the day I met you."

"Uhh, thanks." Jak replied, checking over the magazines as they walked. "So what's the plan? If she has hostages, she'll kill them before giving up whatever she's trying to take."

"The plan was to situate two teams at the main entrances and rush her, but the plans were changed when we found out they have hostages."

"What do you need me to do?" The group stepped outside into the streets behind City Hall, moving in the direction of a Guard zoomer waiting for them.

"There is an access tunnel leading into the basement that I will take you to. You will enter the archives via the tunnel. There is no security measures in the old archives, nor has the section been placed on any building plans. She mostly likely does not know about the access tunnels, or she probably would have entered the building that way. I'm sure she's not expecting you to approach her, especially from behind. That will smoke her out to the front of the building. The hostages are the main priority. Do what you must, but make sure they are let free and without injury," Tyro paused and slipped the key card in Jak's hands, "And please... don't destroy my museum."

"Oh can it, Pudge. Your precious museum will be fine." Daxter snapped.

"Don't mind him. He's an asshole." Jak clipped before stepping into the zoomer with Tyro close behind. The zoomer stopped a half - mile from the museum in the ports of the city. The directions Tyro gave were simple enough for the duo. The zoomer disappeared from Jak's sight, and he moved to pull the heavy sewer lid from its place in the road.

"Uhh, Jak... do we really have to go into a sewer to get into the museum? This almost seems too cliche." Daxter flattened his ears against his head, his usual confident tone replaced with apprehension.

"We'll be fine, Dax. This is like a walk in the park compared to what we've been through." Jak grumbled quietly. He stepped down on the ladder, pulling the lid back in its place before jumping down into the sewer, water soaking into his shoes and pants before he could move to the walkway. "Ten credits says my suit will be destroyed before the night's over."

"Hell, I'll pay twenty credits to watch Ashelin slap you around because of it."

They finally reached the access tunnel leading directly into the museum basement. Jak turned the corner, lifting his gun to his eye sight, slowly walking up the ramp into the dark, the light from the sewer grates fading as he moved.

"Tell me when you see the door. I can't see shit down here; don't have my flashlight."

After several minutes of walking blindly in the dark, Daxter could faintly see the outline of the basement emergency exit. "There. I see it. To your right. Keep going. Okay, stop. Damn it, Jak, STOP. Gimme the key card."

"Check my jacket pocket."

Daxter pulled the card out of Jak's jacket pocket, sliding down to his waist to swipe it against the magnetic lock pad. The light on the handle turned green; the rusted pulley screeched as it turned to allow the dynamic duo access. Red emergency lights illuminated the entrance and tunnel.

"Uhh, they won't know we're here, right?" Daxter asked.

"They will now with all the noise we made." Jak replied grimly. "Let's go. Watch my six."

* * *

A dulled noise did reach Rayn's ears. She straightened up from her place by the curator while he searched for the key Rayn needed. Her gaze moved to Finn before returning to the Curator. "What was that noise?"

"I wish I could tell you." The curator replied nervously. "It could have been the emergency exit. That door hasn't been opened in a very long time."

"Arlo, where is this exit?" Rayn demanded.

"I don't know. It's not on the plans. The security systems stops about three rooms back from where you are. The only three exits in the building plans which are the front exit and the left and right roof exits. I'm blind in there."

"Damn it." Rayn muttered. "Did any of you know about this exit?" Rayn pointed at the conservators huddled together by a set of bookshelves next to the curator's desk. They all shook their heads no in response. "Finn, investigate." Rayn pulled her weapon from its holster, and flipped off the safety. "I'll keep an eye on the group until your return."

Finn disappeared around the corner and followed the hallway to the last room. He opened the door quietly, slipping through. It looked like the rest of the archive, filled with shelves of artifacts and books. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Finn stayed quiet and listened. He heard footsteps from within the walls. Someone was definitely interrupting their playtime. He flipped the light switch and stepped behind a shelf to wait.

"Arlo," Finn whispered. "I'm going to be engaging someone soon. Make sure the last security gate is ready to close."

"Roger."

Jak could see the outline to a door plainly in front of him, he just didn't know how to open it. Daxter jumped down in front of Jak, arms crossed as he studied the door. It was then he noticed a small foot paddle situated at the corner of the door.

"Jak." Daxter whispered, pointing at the paddle.

He climbed back onto Jak's shoulder just as Jak pressed his foot on the lock. That did the trick. The door slid open enough for Jak to squeeze through before shutting tight behind him. Before Jak could reorient himself to his surroundings, Finn attacked. He shoved Jak into the shelves, knocking Jak's gun out of his hands.

Daxter jumped off Jak's shoulder, and into the shelves just as Finn landed a blow to Jak's right eye. Jak growled, fighting through the pain he attempted to twist out of Finn's grip, kicking out at the bigger man who merely jumped out of his range. Jak threw a punch at Finn's solar plexus, but Finn was somehow quicker. He grabbed at Jak's forearm and landed a blow into Jak's side. Grabbing at Jak's communicator on his belt; he ripped it off the belt, slamming the blunt object into Jak's temple.

Hollowing in pain, Jak stumbled back into the door, his eyes turning black as he glared at Finn.

"Well, that was a big mistake, Pal." Daxter echoed from his spot on a shelf. "Shouldn't back an animal into a corner."

Finn jumped out of Jak's reach as he transformed into Dark; kicking Jak's weapon across the room in the process. "Was wondering when you'd show up, Freak." Finn smirked, rolling his neck and shoulders to ready for the fight. "I've been waiting for you for a long, long time."

Dark Jak pushed himself off the wall, charging directly at Finn. He stepped out of Dark Jak's path, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid his claws. His claws gouged into Finn's chest leaving a trail of blood splattered across the floor. Finn gasped, pressing his hand into the wound to stay the blood flow. He straightened up and watched Jak's movement - evading the erratic movements of the monster before an opportunity opened up to kick him hard in the stomach. Dark Jak fell into the shelf, books toppled on top of him, he struggled to right himself in the pile of heavy tomes. Finn had but a moment to breathe before he turned his head to see Daxter picking Jak's gun up, aiming right at him. "Shit." Finn muttered. Knowing when to accept defeat, he grudgingly turned around and bolted for the door, slamming it behind him.

Jak was able to free himself from his temporary prison, changing forms as he sprinted to the door, Daxter hot on his tail. Finn reached the end of the hall just as an emergency door began sliding down the hallway entrance. He turned around and watched Jak's desperate attempt to reach him, but he was too late. The door slid shut, and an amused Rayn stepped through the door to Finn's right, a smug grin stretched across her face as Jak pressed against the glass glaring at her.

Jak slammed a fist into the glass and swore harshly. "Shoot the glass, Jak. I'll look for another way out of this crypt." Daxter jumped down, scurrying off in the opposite direction. Jak reached for his gun, slinging it over his shoulder, and checked the ammo before lifting the sights to his eyeline.

Rayn shook her head, pressing a finger into the intercom button on the wall. "It's ballistic, Love, and by the way, you look absolutely dashing in that suit." Jak merely glared at the Crime Lord in reply. "Plan B." Rayn spoke airly, allowing all her associates to get in their places within and outside the museum.

Jak watched from behind the glass as the obviously injured Finn pulled the hostages into the hallway, forcing them on their knees in front of him. He shoved several items into each person's' arms and then pulled belts with explosives out of his bag to place around their chests. "Take these off before reaching the outside, and you're dead." Finn pointed at the cameras. "My eyes are watching you." He smiled at the Curator, patting him confidently on his ruddy, plump cheek, wiping blood on to his face.

"Damn it, Rayn. What is going through your sick mind to do something like this? They never did anything to you. Let them go."

"My escape is more important than these people." Rayn replied, boredly studying her nails. "Believe me, Love, this is worth everything I've done today." She stepped back to observe the four hostages, hands on her hips. "I'm letting you all go. Let's hope the bomb squad can take those explosives off your chest before they go off. You have ten minutes. My associate will let you out of the basement. Good luck, and ... run."

Jak watched the victims stand and rush out the door as fast as they could, afraid to jostle the explosives strapped to their bodies. Finn followed behind to make sure they made it up the stairs. Jak hoped they would be safe, but knowing Rayn, she'd blow them all to body parts out of spite for Tyro. He reached for his communicator, only to remember it was in pieces in the room behind him. "Cut the shit, Rayn. What are you looking for?"

Rayn smiled coyly, stepping back to observe the man trapped in front of her. "I'm rather disappointed that you didn't realize that I've found what I was looking for. It's already safely tucked away among my possessions. My associate carried it out for me just now. I was expecting some... resistance from the Governor, but not visit from an old friend. You must be wrapped around his little finger."

It was then that Jak realized that one of the hostages were not what they seemed, and he could do nothing to warn the Guard or the Governor. Rayn got what she came for.

"I can tell by the look on your face that you figured it out. Don't worry, the item is in good hands now. I will take good care of it, I promise." She moved closer to the glass, studying the man she once considered making into her lover. Besides the subtle crows feet at the corner of his eyes, and his hair cut into a military fade, Jak was the same as the day she met him- all muscle and anger. Some days she regrets not forcing her way into his life and into his bed. He would have been a perfect ally, or perfect blackmail. Whichever came first.

"Goodbye, Jak. I'm sure I'll see you again soon enough." She paused and turned back to the man, "And say hello to your wife and daughter for me. Your little girl is quite the beauty. She looks just like her father." With a wave, she turned and quickly disappeared from his sight.

"Rayn! Goddamn it." Jak stepped back and kicked the door twice. His leg was mid kick when the door slid open. He stumbled through the threshold confused, but he did not complain, instead, he ran.

"Jak!" Daxter's voice echoed through the speakers on the ceiling.

"Daxter, where the hell are you?"

"The security room. Guard was knocked out. I think Rayn's hacker is trying to override me now. I _really_ don't know what I'm doing. I'll press all the buttons if I have to."

"Just tell me where Rayn went to."

"Roof! Turn left, door at the end of the hall. I'll try to let you through." Jak reached the stairs just as the gate began sliding back down. He rolled underneath and sprinted to the exit, taking two steps at a time until he slammed his way through the roof door. Rayn looked up at the sound. She was attached to a rope, a Guard zoomer began lifting higher, taking her into the sky. Jak reached for her, grasping onto her foot just as the zoomer reached the edge of the roof. He held on, his added weight swung the pair dangerously close to the apartment building next to the museum before it finally lifted above the city line.

Rayn gasped, "Get off me!" She struggled, but could not free herself from his tight grip. "Finn, get back down here and help me."

Finn slid down from the zoomer and met Jak eye level. A sharp quick jab to the nose sent stars crashing into his vision. His grip loosened allowing Rayn to shove a foot into his shoulder. Jak fell unceremoniously as Rayn watched, a tight feeling of regret momentarily washed over her.

Before Jak hit the ground, she watched him transform into Light, an ethereal creature falling toward the streets of Kras much like an angel. He turned midair, and spread his wings to slow his fall. He dropped fairly hard to the ground on his hands and knees, but he was alive. The creature looked up at Rayn with light colorless eyes. It stood and changed back into Jak a minute later, his glow fading into the dark and distance.

"Take me up." Rayn spoke bluntly to the man next to her. She was really lost for words as to what had just happened having never seen him do that before. Gripping on to Finn's steady hand, he pulled her into the zoomer and slammed the door shut. Rayn moved to the front, sitting and strapping herself into her seat. She mumbled her location to the pilot before collapsing into silent thought. Her celebration of success would come later when the book was finally in her hands.

"Jak!" Daxter reached Jak as he landed safely on the ground in his light form. Jak made no reply, he turned his attention to the zoomer making its escape, finally disappearing from his view. Daxter huffed, annoyed and slightly offended, he really hated being ignored. "Seriously, do you have to be so dramatic about everything?"

Moments passed, and Jak returned to normal, smirking at Daxter. "Did you want me to die? Why have wings if I can't use them?"

"I was talking about the silent treatment you give me every time you go Light."

"Oh," Jak began walking to the front of the building, ignoring the stares and whispers of the Kras citizens who had witnessed his descent from the sky. "Sorry Dax. I was concentrating on keeping form so I could heal my wrist." He held his arm out, pulling his jacket sleeve up to show Daxter the raw pink flesh. Blood soaked into the white dress shirt sleeve where his bone had pushed through skin. "It was a compound fracture." He paused noticing the state of his dress clothes." Great, Ashelin is really going to kill me when she sees this suit." He mumbled to himself.

"Oh. Gah-ross." Daxter made a face of disgust, picturing the break. "Still doesn't explain why you ignore me every other time, but whatever." He waved the subject off and looked up only to let out a melodramatic groan. He turned to walk backwards, pointing over his shoulder, speaking under his breath. "Don't look now, but Governor Fussy Pants is coming our way."

"Jak!" Tyro approached the duo, trotting slowly. Jak was obviously bruised up, his suit torn at the knees, his shirt dark with soot and blood. He sported a disappearing shiner on his right eye, dried blood had run down his nose and chin. Tyro whistled, "You look worse for wear."

"She got away, and in a Guard zoomer. Does you Commander know one of his zoomers is missing?" Jak ignored Tyro's comment. "She had plants in the Guard and the museum too. Where are the hostages?"

"Alive. The explosives were removed, thank the Precursors." Tyro replied. "Glad to see the museum in one piece as well. Good job."

Jak rolled his eyes and began jogging toward the bomb squad zoomer in search of the group released from the museum. Tyro looked down at the Ottsel glaring at him.

"You're pretty bad at this "governing" thing, aren't you?" Daxter snipped before following behind Jak. Tyro sighed, once again wiping the perspiration from his brow, he followed behind Jak before searching for his City Commander.

Eventually Jak returned to Tyro's side, handing him a slip of paper with all the information he could get from the victims. "There was a mole" Jak spoke grimly. " It was the newest museum employee, a woman named Lana Stone which is most likely an alias judging by the elaborate scheme that Rayn pulled off today. As soon as Lana reached the bomb squad truck, a tech led her away, and they haven't been seen since. I would suggest you figure out who the mole was in the guard. Hopefully that'll give you more direction."

"The Curator stated that he had hired Lana seven months ago. He said her credentials were very legitimate, coming from the Curator of Haven City although he had retired about two months prior due to health problems..." Jak looked down at his watch. "That's all I can give you. I think whatever Rayn took was a book. The Curator should probably be able to find out which book it is. I'll make contact with the former curator for Haven's museum tomorrow on our return. Now, I'm going to go to my hotel. If you happen to go back to the party, tell my wife that my communicator was broken and I'll meet her back at our room." Jak shook Tyro's hand and walked away from the group.

"Jak, that book must be really important for all the dramatics Rayn just pulled."

"I know Dax." Jak's face hardened at the thought of the woman. She was absolutely resilient in irritating the shit out of him. He rubbed at the closed wound on his shoulder he had received from her the year before. "I'm getting way too old for this. I hope Rayn isn't planning to take over the world." Jak looked over at Daxter, a serious look on his face. "I'm retired, damn it. Someone else can worry about her for once."

Rayn has always enjoyed the histories that went with her vast collection of trophies and rare trinkets. When she finally had received the last of her inheritance years after the Kras city races, she remembered giggling in delight at her office, filled with cloth covered statues, weapons and boxes. The history and money in the room filled her with joy at that very moment, but today, a book promised more than what she had previously dreamed was possible.

She stepped into her new office, now squandered away in another corner of Kras that Tyro wouldn't dare step foot in. She grazed her hand lovingly over a bookshelf placed by the doorway, filled with leather bound books and tomes. She paused on a particular text, looking more ancient and worn then the rest. She had Fae place it there earlier while she updated her men on the events that had occurred not even two hours earlier. She was looking forward to this moment of peace for such a long time now, she demanded no interruptions from any of her employees while she studied the book.

"I've been waiting for you." Rayne mumbled softly to no one in particular as she grasped the book and pulled it from its case; she was taken by surprise by its burdensome weight. She clasped the book to her chest and shut the door softly behind her. She moved to her desk and placed the book carefully on its surface. The small desk lamp lit up the surface of the aged leather tome revealing the ancient language of the Creators scrawled faintly across the front. With the help of the harsh light, she could read the faded gold title: "The Precursor Legacy." As told by the Blue Eco Sage of Rock Village.

Rayn slid into her seat and wondered at the text. Her imagination began running wild, wondering what life was like eons ago. In her heart, she would have loved the smallness of the past, the simplicity of country life, of course, she tend to romanticize everything, never thinking that the simple life she thought she would enjoy could possibly be hell on earth.

She carefully opened the book. The spine cracked and moaned in protest. She flipped through the brittle pages, and paused over a lone colored picture depicted within. It was of a blonde boy. A small orange precursor sat on his shoulder as they both stared defiantly at a terrifying creature hovering in the air before them. The mech was none that Rayn had seen the likes of in her lifetime.

The boy and his precursor were on a large circular platform, cracked open in the middle. What was inside was not told, but she knew. She moved her gaze down to the writing beneath. "The demise of the Dark Eco Sage, Gol Acheron." Circa 4123 B.M.

"Miss Rayn." Rayn glanced up to find her feeble secretary looking warily over her shoulder.

Rayn snapped the book shut, cringing as she did so. "Fae, what do you want?" She stood up, glaring at the woman. "How many times have I told you to not interrupt me when I'm in my office unless its an emergency?"

"I apologize, but I think you should know that our job is on the news." She walked toward the television situated on the wall across from Rayn's desk, grabbing the remote to turn the screen on.

The fake blonde news anchor graced Rayn's television with her cheeky bright smile. Rayn never liked Mizo's replacement, but she seemed to the do the job well enough to not garner harassment from Rayn. "Today, well known Crime Lord, Rayn Krew invaded the lower levels of the Kras City museum, taking hostages and stealing important historical documents. Dark Warrior, Jak Mar, made contact with the Crime Lord, but was unable to capture her or those involved. If you have any information on the matter, please contact your local Guard precinct."

While she was babbling on about the robbery, Rayn took interest in the characters pictured on the screen. It was the only picture of Jak that particular news channel always displayed, as he avoided the spotlight at all cost - an old blurry picture of him solemnly standing behind his wife, and Governor Tyro; The precursor sat boredly on Jak's shoulder. Rayn had seen it many times before, but not in the same light as of now.

Rayn walked closer to the screen, unbelieving of what she was recognizing from the duo hiding in the background. The news anchor eventually moved on to a different news report, leaving Rayn to ponder.

"Oh my precursors."

"What is it?" Fae questioned her superior, glancing between her boss and the television curiously.

"Get me a historian, Fae." Silence met her odd request. "NOW!" Rayn snapped impatiently. She watched her secretary scurry out of the room before returning her attention to the screen. "Jak, something tells me you've been hiding some wonderful unfathomable secrets from me."

* * *

Well? What do you make of it, Professor?" Rayn sat calmly in her study enjoying a cup of hot tea. Rolen, a history teacher from the University of Kras sat across from her, looking disheveled and harassed. He was dragged in by Rayn's thugs four hours ago by the scruff of his neck, and forced to study the book Rayn had found.

"It appears to me to be a depiction of the relatively short dark eco war that occurred centuries ago." Rolen pulled his reading glasses off, and sighed, tapping on the front of the book. "I've only heard of rumors of this Legendary figure pictured here," He pointed at the picture Rayn had found, "within the confines of the University. It seems we have an interesting bit of undiscovered history on our hands."

"Do you know who the boy is? And what of that robot? Where is it?"

"I can't say of the boy as the Sage who wrote the book merely called him 'the Hero', but I do know that what he is standing on is an eco silo. According to the text, this unsung man defeated the Sage, Acheron, casting him into the silo while he was trapped in the robot's head. All of the silos in the world have been found, and drained of their resources, and not one of them has a mechanical robot within them. The boy disappeared shortly after the metal heads made their appearance on our planet."

"Then this silo has gone undiscovered then?"

Rolen sat back in his seat, exhaustion set on his face. "It has been made unrecovered for a reason."

Rayn smiled coyly into her tea, excitement bubbling in her stomach. "We're gathering a team together, Professor. Time to go treasure hunting."


	3. Chapter 3

Book. Non-existent. Hemo. Drug trade. Rayn.

The Curator of Kras museum hadn't the slightest idea that the stolen book was of any importance, and yet he had the key for the bookcase safely tucked away in his office with the rest of the keys. Due to the lack of helpful information, Tyro audited the museum, clearly doubting how thorough of records the Curator was truly keeping. His records came back perfect, leaving Tyro to believe the book was planted by someone on the staff. When and by who was the puzzling question.

And since Rayn had taken what was considered non-existent on any records in the museum, Tyro's investigation with the museum, and the book, came to a crashing dead end. The Governor was sick of looking a fool because of Rayn.

"Well? Did you speak to the gentleman from Haven university?"

Daxter laughed shortly in response, lounging on the couch behind Jak. Jak gave Daxter a disapproving scowl, than returning his attention to the Governor's question. "A guard found his body dumped in an alley right behind his home. Apparently he had a dark eco addiction and "overdosed". I think someone wanted to make sure he wouldn't talk. That someone could well be Rayn."

"Isn't it possible he was just that unfortunate soul who got too caught up in his own web?"

"To bluntly put it - no. I actually caught up with his dealer the next day. The kid is the scum of the earth, but he's always honest with me. Anyway, the kid told me he always gets a hearty payment for sticking around for a half-hour, just in case Potne did overdose. The curator was afraid of dying." Jax moved to the chair in front of Tyro's desk and sat, stretching and crossing his legs in front of him. "The dealer watched Potne shoot up, he left when the Curator finally came to, and three hours later, he's dead. The dealer has an alibi, and all the cameras in the area showed no signs of a struggle or anyone entering or leaving the deceased 's home. They tossed his body out the kitchen window, right where the surveillance cameras do not reach."

Disgust evident on his face from the revealed information Tyro glanced out his office window, appreciating the view of the port city before him for a silent moment. He loves this city, and its inhabitants, yet he somehow couldn't keep it out of Rayn's grasp. No matter the steps he took to make sure she stayed her power, she was always ahead of Tyro's game. The woman was a tumor, metastasizing her way through not only his community, but through Haven and even Spargus.

Tyro cleared his throat, returning to the subject of Rayn. "Our raid didn't prove to be very successful." He turned to face the duo before him. "Her home is empty, and her place of _business_ is now gone. It seems that she may have moved her location prior to her operation. I may have underestimated her will to fight back these past few years. Plus, I still don't know what she had taken from the museum."

"It's obviously something to do with the precursors." Daxter spoke, peeling himself off the the couch to stand next to Jak. "Think about it. Your museum is now the center of precursor technology, thanks to Haven city's genius council. Why else would our favorite crime skank break in?"

"But she stole a book, Dax. I don't even think the precursors had books."

"I dunno. We're talking about fat 'n ugly's spawn here. Maybe she was in the mood to add to her 'I'm a psycho' collection?" Didn't Vulgar carry around a big precursor book?"

"You know it's never that simple with Rayn." Veger's book was a book of worship - it didn't explain much, but how to dote on an ottsel."

"What was that book called? Where can I get a copy?" Daxter looked up at Jak with hope evident in his eyes.

"Well at this point, our investigations have come to a standstill." Tyro interrupted the veering discussion. "We can attempt to smoke Rayn out of hiding with a reward to any citizen with information on her whereabouts, but I doubt it will do us any good." He moved around his desk to shake Jak's hand. "I thank you, gentleman. Should you come across any thing in the future, please let me know. I hope you enjoy your monetary reward."

"Of course we will, Sweats-A-Lot. We're gonna get a drink. Wanna tag along?"

Tyro frowned at Daxter's insulting nickname, narrowing his eyes at the rude creature. "No, thank you. I've work to accomplish."

Jak nodded silently at Tyro and turned to leave. He closed the door behind him, and gave Daxter a scathing look. "Do you always have to be an asshole?"

"Of course, it's just my style."

"Your 'style' gets me in trouble with my wife who happens to deal with Tyro on a day to day basis. Stop it."

"Okay, sorry stick-in-the-mud. Now let's get us some booze. I am thirsty."

"We're not going to the bar. We're going home. Aiden's school orientation is tonight. I have to be there."

"So you did go through with the military approach. Good call, Big Guy."

"It was that or bailing her out of jail in the near future. Did Dee tell you about Aiden's fight with her schoolmate?"

Daxter scoffed. "My kid? Telling me things? That's absurd. Now mouthing off to me - that's more of Dee's style."

"One can only wonder where she gets that from."

"Should say the same about your brat."

* * *

Jak stepped into the midday blazing sun, wincing at the harsh light beating into his eyes. He looked forward to getting away from the muggy air of the port city temporarily, only to return home to more claustrophobic heat. At least he could actually breathe in the desert. He jogged down the city hall steps to his vehicle parked nearby, grabbing at the roll cage to lower himself in his seat. He started the buggy, enjoying the sound of the engine purring to life before returning to his conversation with Daxter, pulling away from the curve to make the journey home.

"Any way, Aiden knocked her classmate's front teeth out. She told me he taunted her, and called her a freak. Ashelin and I had to pay to get his teeth fixed which was a pretty penny. The fight was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"Whoa! Freak? That's pretty heavy. Stupid kid had what was coming to-" Daxter paused, realization dawning on his face, he curiously glanced to his best friend who was concentrating on the road in front of him. "She's not going dark is she? I mean, is it even possible?"

Jak's expression darkened, the question hanging heavily on his mind as it had since the moment he found out Ashelin was pregnant. "I don't know, Dax. I have avoided, at all cost, allowing her near dark eco. She's never even seen me change forms."

"I don't get the whole rebellious angry kid thing. You were pretty chill 'til Errol and Praxis caught up with us and made you into a science experiment. I had expected the same hippy attitude from your brat."

"I agree. Maybe the dark eco affected me genetically, in which case, I'm glad I've done what I can to keep Aiden's exposure to dark eco to a minimum. Hell, I rarely lose my temper around the kid, and yet look at her - She's turning into a citywide champion boxer. I'm starting to think these kids Aiden is exposed to are the product of parents who've seen what I have done in the past. Because they fear me, their kids hate her. It's just not fair to Aiden."

"Sorry to say this, but you can't protect her from everything, Big Guy. She's going to understand eventually."

"Yeah... I know." Jak replied solemnly. "Trying to make your kid's life better than your own is a pain in the ass, but all I want is for Aiden to grow up safe and happy."

You're going to make me puke from the cheesiness."

"Shut up, Dax. I know you want the same thing for Delilah.

Minutes passed in compatible silence, the duo finally reached the city's main entrance, waiting for the guard to check Jak's paperwork and the vehicle for smuggled goods. The guard nodded in approval at Jak, handing back his passport, and allowed him to pull forward to the gate.

He slipped his goggles over his eyes, looking down at Daxter through the lense. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into on our way home."

Daxter's eyes brightened at Jak's words, and he moved out of his seat to scramble up the roll cage. His favorite toy, the mounted turret, laid in waiting for him. He pulled his goggles down as well, pointing enthusiastically at Jak. "Now you're speaking my language, pal! Let's go!"

* * *

To the pair's disappointment, they only encountered a small group of marauders who did not give much of a challenge. Their return to the city was uneventful. It was obvious how dull the trip had been judging by Daxter's incessant whining about explosions and guns. Of course, that changed the moment Jak returned home to a panicking wife standing on their front porch, yelling commands into her communicator.

"Jak is home. Be there in five." Ashelin ended her call, and ran down the steps to the buggy, moving to sit in it. "Aiden ran away with Delilah. I think she's pissed off about going into the academy."

"Great." Jak sighed, moving back into the driver seat. "Any idea where she went to?"

"I think she went to Dead Town. Torn is already outside searching the area with his guard. I left her in my office with Dee. I had guards posted outside. Your daughter scaled down the damn building."

Jak whistled in appreciation at Aiden's coy tactic. "Impressive."

"No, not impressive. When I find her, she's in a _lot_ of trouble."

* * *

This was not how his day was suppose to end. Torn was to meet with Jak and his family in an hour's time to discuss Aiden's future with the military academy, and afterwards be on his merry way home for a bit of rest & relaxation. Instead, he was now wading through knee deep water filled with stinking, decayed bramble and blood sucking bugs, in search of his boss's punk daughter. Hearing her name, or even seeing Aiden always left Torn in a very sour mood. The girl has caused too much trouble in her short existence to even be allowed out of her house. It blew his mind how such a selfish brat could come from two humble, hard working people. The kid turned him off on the idea of ever having children. E_ver._

Searching for missing persons was usually grunt work, but Jak and Ashelin were an exception to his rules. He desperately wanted to throttle the girl the moment he caught up with her - in a way he was glad he was leading the search party. He was definitely not a happy camper about the current situation. The deeper than usual scowl plastered on his face was all the evidence one could need to know Torn was beyond pissed off.

Slapping away at the mosquitoes attempting to make dinner out of his face, Torn paused in his ministrations, taking notice of the crumbling wall on his left where a Glub lay dead, dangling precariously from the edge. Dark eco orbs littered below the animal's carcass, floating over the steaming swamp.

He finally peeled his eyes off that particular area to turn and address the miserable group of men sweating heavily underneath their gear. "Park, and Cal - you two will search the eastern ruins, Tomba, you and Harlo will take the shore." He could feel the guards frustration, and annoyance quite understandably as they also scratched and slapped away at bugs. "You're looking for Governor Mar's daughter." He pulled a photo of Aiden out of his jacket pocket, handing it to the guards to examine.

"She's twelve years old, approximately 60 inches in height, tan skin, wavy green-blonde hair cut to her shoulders. She usually wears it in a side ponytail. The clothing she is wearing is -" He paused, flipping his notebook open to find the the details on Aiden's clothing. "Okay, she is wearing a plain dark purple shirt, knee length cropped khakis, and leather sandals and arm bracers."

"She has the ottsel's daughter with her. Can't miss the orange fur and loud mouth. Keep your eyes and ears open. I am going up on that wall into the western ruins to search. Aiden is a flight risk, and Delilah will go wherever Aiden goes. If you come across the kids, radio me and wait for my instructions. Do not make contact, just keep the pair in view. If they are in danger, make contact and do what you can to protect them. Stay hydrated, gentlemen. Dismissed."

He watched his team move to their destined locations before turning and wading through the water toward the wall. He pulled himself up the wall, noticing two more dead Glubs leading a trail deeper into the ruins. He sighed and stepped further into the ruins, his hand ready on his gun. "This should be fun." He muttered before disappearing behind a crumbling wall.

* * *

A girl scrambled up a rock face by the foaming ocean, away from the horde of creatures chasing after their next meal. Aiden cringed, pain trickling up her spine as a Znorkle Tooth swiped at her calf leaving a deep oozing gash to drip freely into the a shallow pool of water below. The scent of the blood drove the creatures into a zealous fury, clamoring over each other to get a taste of the freshly exposed meat.

"This was a really bad idea, Dee." Aiden gasped as she pulled herself over the edge. She scooted back and sat against the rock to tend to her wound, her blood soaking into the leather of her sandal. It didn't seem as bad as she had expected. She pulled the bracer off her arm, and unwrapped the linen cloth protecting her hand from the chafing leather. She tightly wrapped the wound, hoping to lessen the bleeding and stood, testing the strength in her leg. She felt an aching, burning sensation merely from standing, but the moment she attempted to move, a sharp dizzying pain shot through her leg, traveling up her back.

"Damn that hurts." Aiden hissed. She lifted her leg up to take pressure off the injury, and glanced over at her best friend who glared angrily back at her.

"What?"

"And who's idea was it to disappear into Dead Town?" Delilah mocked Aiden's voice. "Dee, we're running away. Come on, let's get lost in Dead Town." She walked her fingers across the palm of her paw, "But wait, we have to climb down a ten story building first. Oh, and get chased into a corner by hungry, rabid creatures. It's okay though, we're going to _run away_."

Delilah jumped, squeaking with a loud "Eep!" as a Glub jumped up the side of the rock, chomping at her tail; she hustled up Aiden's body to cling to her head. The ottsel managed to tangle herself in Aiden's wild mane in the process. With a huff of frustration, and a moment to sort herself out, Delilah continued her complaint, finally ridding her claws of the hair attacking her. "You know, I wish I were an human sometimes, just so I'd have a fair shot at punching you in the head for your stupid "bright" ideas."

"Your mouth works well enough." Aiden replied, feeling a wave of guilt at the events of her doing. She was being selfish... Yet again. "I'm sorry, Dee."

"I'll forgive you if you can get us out of this mess." Delilah grumbled. "I don't want to be eaten today - or ever really."

When Ashelin told Aiden she was going to military school starting tomorrow, Aiden pouted, she yelled and threw a hissy fit, but Ashelin would not relent to Aiden's childish protests. She finally nodded in agreement at her mother's statement, allowing Ashelin to believe that her daughter was accepting of the punishment, but in reality, Aiden would fight tooth and nail to avoid the place at all cost.

In her adolescent mind, the only solution was to run away, and in this very case, she did just that...except she never ventured outside the walls without Jak, and she did not know what direction to go to get out of the ruins. She should have realized running away would fail from the beginning. She was a smart girl, but her common sense was severely lacking.

Now here she stood, leaning over the edge of a rock face to observe the foaming waters of the ocean in three directions. A death trap of razor sharp rocks lay just below the surface, waiting for Aiden to jump in. She may not think many things through, but she wasn't that stupid to jump into the water. She needed another solution.

Delilah could see the group of eco creatures growing, clamoring on top of each other to form a makeshift wall. She could see the long tongue of a znorkle tooth rapidly shooting out over the side of the rock in search of his prey. The young duo were closer to getting mauled by the second.

"We're stuck." Delilah crowed sadly. "I'm going to die, and I haven't even kissed a boy yet!"

"Oh my God, shut up for a second. I'm trying to think." Aiden's mind felt fuzzy, overworked, most likely resulting from the pain and blood loss, but she tried to remain vigilant of their precarious situation. Racing over a variety solutions, she scanned her surroundings, noticing a ledge to her left, below a platform with steps disappearing over the horizon toward the city wall. The slums gate was in that direction, but it was a better direction than where they were going before.

Oh, this was going to hurt. The adrenaline began pumping through Aiden the moment she leaned down and dusted her hands with dirt - the decision was set. She pumped herself up, bouncing on her good leg, and shaking her hands to make ready for the grab. "Right, let's do this. Hold on, Dee."

Delilah tensed, she straightened from viewing the horde below and glanced down at Aiden's profile. "What? Wait a min - Ahhhhh!" Delilah sunk her claws into Aiden's scalp, screaming at the top of her lungs as the blonde sprinted to the edge of the cliff, flinging herself across the chasm.

Aiden's felt time slow down as she hurtled through the air. She could see the amphibious monsters follow her path right before she caught hold of the ledge, her body slammed into the cliff side, knocking the wind out of her. She dangled by her fingertips, dust and pebbles blinding and choking her before she managed to pulled herself up to the platform, collapsing in a heap on the safety of the step.

Delilah immediately released her hold on Aiden's head and moved to hug the blessed step, chest heaving, she stared at Aiden, wide eyed in terror. "Don't EVER do that me again. I don't know how many lives I have, but I think I just lost one from heart failure."

"Heh heh." Aiden chuckled and lifted her head to grin ear to ear at Delilah, covered in rock dust, sweat and blood. She was a disgusting sight, but oh did she feel amazing. "Probably the most fun I had in ages." She replied before lowering her head back onto the cooled rock surface.

Her adrenaline was disappearing, and she knew soon she would turn into a shaking mess, her wound now throbbing more than ever before. The shadow of the steps was welcoming, allowing the girls to cool down before contemplating their next step. Aiden turned her head to watch the dark eco creatures finally climb up the cliff face, searching for the duo, some falling into the water depths below at the sight of the girls on their new perch, ignoring the large treacherous gap.

A few minutes passed before the silence was broken."Dee, I don't think I can move any more." Aiden groaned. "My leg..." She trailed off, groaning and touching her leg gingerly, her eyes closed, forehead still pressed to the ground.

Delilah inched toward the edge where Aiden's legs splayed out and observed her friends injury. The makeshift bandage was soaked dark red, she could see part of the wound - it looked like ground yakkow beef. "Well that's just gross." Delilah murmured. "Looks like our little adventure has come to an end." She plopped down next to her friend feeling incredibly relieved. "We are in so much trouble."

"Worth it." Aiden's muffled voice replied. "Maybe my leg is too messed up for me to go into the academy. That would be awesome." She looked up at Delilah, a glint of hope flashed in her eyes.

Delilah gawked at Aiden in disbelief. "I can't believe you'd be excited over a possible crippling injury just so you don't have to go to another school. You're crazy." She poked a claw at Aiden's head, inciting the blonde into a fury. "You. are. a. whack. job."

Aiden brushed Delilah's hand away, growling. "Piss off. I'm NOT taking commands from anyone. Not even Torn." She flipped over, leaning back on her elbows to view Delilah. "They can't make me. I'll be thrown out of school the first chance I have."

"Maybe this will be good for you. You get to play with guns, and kick some ass. I'm slightly jealous."

"It'd be fun if I had the choice, and if I didn't have to deal with Torn."

"So why are they putting you in the academy?" Delilah asked mockingly. She looked around, leaning in to whisper. "Did anyone tell you that you have an anger problem?"

Aiden scoffed at the ludicrous question. "I don't have an anger problem. I have a people problem. If people weren't so vile to me, I wouldn't knock their teeth down their throats." She sat up further and dragged herself back to the step. "Look, I know what the guard did to my dad under Praxis' rule. Even though my dad seems to have forgiven the City for what they did to him, I can't especially now that people know I'm the daughter of a dark warrior. I don't want to be told how to live my life, or let people put me down because of my dad."

"You act like you got the weight of the world on your shoulders, kid."

Aiden and Delilah looked up at the figure moving into their view over the steps - Torn. And he didn't look very happy; not surprising to the young duo. He reached the girls and stooped down silently, wrapping his hand around Aiden's ankle, he carefully lifted her leg to assess the injury. He tsked, returning her leg to the ground and laid his forearms over his knees; he moved his gaze to Aiden's face, catching her eyes, she merely stared back at him defiantly. They never had a very good relationship as Aiden grew up. She saw him as mean old bastard always out to get her in the streets, and he couldn't stand her billy bad ass routine. So much community service was had because of Torn's Guard.

Torn pull the communicator off his belt, lifting it to his mouth, he stood to observe the scattered lizards on the ground, pacing below the group. "Found her. Gonna need medical attention, and an airlift. Northwest, 1.5 clicks from the gate. You'll see us standing on an archway leading into Dead Town."

He returned his attention to the girl, clipping his communicator back on his belt as he spoke.. "I tell you what, If you prove to live up to your old man's reputation... Actually that's asking too much of you. Prove to me you aren't the disrespectful narcissistic bitch that I think you are - maybe one day we can be friends." He paused to light a cigarette, blowing the smoke heavily in front of him, watching the blurred sun sink behind the horizon. He gave Aiden a shit eating grin. "Starting tomorrow, I'm officially welcoming you to hell, Cadet Mar."

Aiden scoffed, "Bullshit. I'll ice myself out the first chance I get."

Torn laughed. "As much as that would be a dream come true, I'm not going to let you. Wherever you go - I will find you and park your ass right back in. You will be puking your guts out with the sprints and push ups that I know you will be performing. For every little bit of disrespect you show to the city and to the guard, to your fellow cadets, and especially to the Leadership of the City… You will have so much guard duty that you will not remember where you live or what your parents look like.

Aiden remained silent.

"Now that is the sweet sound of acceptance." Torn smirked, flicking his cigarette butt into the water below, observing the zoomer drawing near. "Ahh, our ride's here. Ready for orientation, kid?"

"Piss off."

* * *

Torn wasn't kidding when he said he'd make life hell for young Mar. The moment he walked through the classroom door, he set her out to be made an example to the rest of her class.

The chosen class captain stood and yelled, "Attention!", as Torn walked through the door.

The class stood all at once, along with an unwilling Aiden who balanced on one foot, crutches tucked under both arms. Her calf muscle was merely torn, needing stitches and green eco treatments. To her disappointment, the doctor determined that she'd be up and running around within a matter of two weeks, meaning her dreams of avoiding the academy altogether were dashed hard into the concrete and set on fire.

The Commander stood in front of the class, briefly observing the discipline and uniform cleanliness. He was already impressed with the instructor's thoroughness on the rules and regulations so early into the day.

"At ease, Cadets, and good morning. I am Commander Nolan, your instructor, and your chief babysitter for the rest of your careers with the Freedom Guard." He moved up and down the rows of students as he spoke. "I have to admit, I do not make house calls for rookie classes. In fact, you usually do not see me as an instructor until halfway through your second year." He paused in front of Aiden who leaned heavily on her crutches, avoiding Torn's gaze.

"I came here for one specific reason." He smirked at the scowling girl in front of him. "Class, I'd like to introduce you to student who attempted to desert our city yesterday. Taxpayer's money was spent to drag her sorry injured ass back from Dead Town. I hope you all remember Cadet Mar's face and know that this is someone who will probably be watching your back one day. Let's hope she adjusts her very shitty attitude, and doesn't get any of you killed in the line of duty."

_One hour in, and already an outcast._ Aiden thought bitterly. She looked directly at Torn which was the first of many mistakes during the five years she would be stuck in the school.

"Why are you looking at me, Cadet?. You keep your eyes off your superior." Torn near screamed into her face much to Aiden's obvious surprise. He knew it, she really was expecting star treatment - she really didn't believe him when he said he'd treat her like a bug under his shoe. Torn was going to enjoy breaking her down, and building her back up. Torn pointed at the front of the classroom, "Stare at that chalkboard like it's the most important damn thing in your life, and don't ever look at me again. Is that clear?"

"Yes,"

"Yes, what, Cadet?"

"Yes, SIR." Aiden snapped, she glared at the chalkboard.

"Good." He nodded, satisfied to turn the tide on her behavior. He turned and walked back to the front of the class, "I hope you all enjoy the first four weeks of training because the rest of your time here is going to make you want to cry and beg for your mothers. Carry on."

Aiden coldly watched Torn shake the instructor's hand, concentrating as much hate and anger she could muster at the side of his head, childishly hoping his head would explode - Torn left the classroom very much alive and without even a headache. Already, Aiden could feel the stares and whispered words directed toward her.

Leaving for their next class, Aiden was last out the door. Entering the hallway, she found a small group of cadets waiting for her. She tensed, nodding at the group, and attempted to make her way around them.

A boy stepped in front of her path, eyes narrow and mocking. "Looks like we have a traitor on our hands." He hissed, shoving her hard. The group laughed as Aiden hobbled back, steadying her balance on her good leg.

"I'd like to go through, please." Aiden gritted out. She adjusted her position to stand defensively.

"Like I'd let you, Freak." Aiden tensed at the name. The boy stepped closer, shrewdly starring Aiden down. "Yeah, we know who you are." He spoke softly. "Everyone knows who you are. A monster; a danger to society, and a danger to yourself. You don't belong anywhere. Not even here."

"We're going to be late for class." Aiden responded coolly, swallowing the lump forming in her throat. She tried to keep the vicious words from getting to her head, the un-shed tears blurred her vision momentarily before she calmed herself down with the breathing exercises her previous school counselor had taught her.

"No, you're going to be late." The boy once again moved toward her, but this time she was ready for him. She grabbed at her right crutch, the left one clanging noisily to the tiled floor, and swung at the side of his leg, making contact with his femoral nerve. The Cadet's leg buckled, allowing Aiden to shove him to the ground, landing on top of him. Balling her hand into a fist, she attempted to strike him, only to be grabbed from behind by a guard before she could make contact.

"Hey! Ugh, let me go. He has what's coming to him." Aiden crowed, struggling against the guard's steady grip. It was useless. She calmed and steeled her gaze on the smirking boy

The guard pointed at the group. "Next class. NOW."

"You're seriously not going to punish him for ganging up on me?" The guard ignored her question, releasing her once the group of students was out of sight. "Pick up your crutches and follow me, Cadet."

"...Yes, Sir."

The pair silently walked to the elevator down the hall. Aiden watched the numbers on the wall moving to the top level before opening to a bustling office hallway. At the end of the hallway, The guard paused at a secretary's desk where a woman filed her nails out of boredom, smelling heavily of too much vanilla scented perfume. Aiden wrinkled her nose from the overpowering aroma. _Someone must have a B.O. problem_. She smirked to herself as secretary looked up at the pair, annoyance evident on her face at the interruption. The guard coughed, also obviously affected by the smell. "I was informed to bring Cadet Mar to Commander Nolan if she started a fight."

"He's in a meeting with the Governor currently. I'll inform him that you are here."

Aiden's heart sank at the mention of her mother. _Just great._

The doors opened within seconds of the Secretary's ended call, and Ashelin stalked out in a rage. Pointing through the doors, she sneered at her daughter. "Get in here right _now_." Aiden stood from her seat and slowly moved into the room, wincing at the slamming doors. Ashelin walked past to stand next to Torn's desk, and faced Aiden. "Is it your goal to embarrass me and your father everywhere you go? I am _so_ tired of this, Aiden. So tired."

"I didn't start the fight." Aiden snapped back. She nodded to Torn. "He did."

Torn remained silent at her accusation, but his eyes narrowed as he studied the defiant girl glaring hatefully at him from across the room. The kid had some balls to make such accusations, but she really wasn't far from the truth.

"That is a ridiculous thing to say about your Commander."

"He came into my classroom this morning, and told the class I tried to abandon the city. A group of students came up to me and called me a traitor and some other nasty names. They started shoving me so I tried to return the love."

"Then why didn't you go to a guard if they were starting fights with you?"

"I can handle my own problems, thank you."

Torn interrupted the argument, "Now that you're in the military, you can and will be courts-martial for incidents like what occurred today. Did your instructor not go over the rules with you?"

"Yes, Sir, but-"

"I shouldn't have to echo your instructor. Grow up, or go to jail. The choice is yours. You're no longer considered a child the moment you walked through the front doors in that uniform."

"So I should stand there and take a beating until a guard shows up? That's pretty fucking stupid." Aiden snarled, the anger showing through the more red her face got.

"Aiden!" Ashelin began to protest, amazement in her voice from listening to her daughter's outburst.

"No, Ashelin, it's okay. She does have a point." Torn stood up and walked around the desk, moving slowly behind Aiden. She refused to move and it allowed him to catch her by surprise, shoving his knee into the back of her good leg, knocking her to the ground. She threw her hands out in time to prevent herself from face planting the ground, and rolled over to glare at a smirking Torn leaning over her with his hands behind his back.

"Better take up defense tactics if you're going to survive here, kid. Even if there isn't a guard, someone is going to be around to knock you down - so you better get use to it, and hope you and the other guy do not get caught. Not only am I your god damn enemy, but so is the rest of the school. Endure. Survive. Thrive." He stepped away from the girl, not offering to help her to her feet. "I'll inform your instructor that you will be in class in ten minutes. Dismissed."

Aiden stood silently, picking up her crutches; she didn't look at either Torn or Ashelin before leaving the room with nothing left to say to either adult. Torn followed behind, informing his secretary to contact Aiden's instructor before returning to the room; closing the door softly behind him.

Torn walk toward his desk, looking up from his fresh cup of coffee balancing carefully in his grip to see the appalled and concerned look on Ashelin's face. "What?"

"I'm not sure if this is such a good idea any more."

Torn laughed gruffly as he sat down again, carefully placing the coffee on a coaster to the left of his desk calendar. He leaned back and studied Ashelin for a second before responding. "Yes, it is a good idea. She needs this - _severely_."

"You don't understand -"

"I understand enough to know that your daughter lacks discipline, but I can't blame you or Jak. I've seen you work with her for a long time. There's something hardwired into her brain to make her so god damn defiant. I'm going to fix it. You and Jak trusted her to me, now - just let me work. Please."

Ashelin sighed, sitting heavily into the chair in front of his desk. "I hope to Mar you're right about this."

Torn scoffed. "I'm always right and you know that."

Ashelin rolled her eyes, "Oh yes. How can I forget?" She bent at the waist to pick up her folders of paperwork and plans on the floor. "Let's... let's just get back to business before I completely change my mind."

"Ashelin." She sat up to view Torn leaning toward her, the concern in his eyes relaxed her racing mind. "She'll be okay, alright? I won't let anything happen to her. The kid and I don't get along, but I won't let her turn into anything but an upstanding citizen - you probably won't see her very often for the next few years, and I am not joking about it." Torn laughed shortly. "She's going to get _a lot_ of guard duty."

Ashelin nodded, crossing her legs and sitting back fully against the chair once more, she looked out at the city landscape, feeling a range of emotions that she could not interpret all at once. Was it fear she felt? Regret? Frustration? Anxiousness? There were many people in this world that Ashelin could not give the time of day to, too long jaded in her trust, but, oh how she was a wolf in sheep's clothing when it came to _him_- in doubting Torn's ability to help her daughter. She returned her gaze to the man sitting in front of her, he went unnoticed of her study as he reached into his desk, scrounging for something unknown to her, most likely for a pen. He was good at losing pens, and his zoomer keys: the paradox of his anankism*.

Although his hair was beginning to subtly pepper gray at his temple, he still maintained a youthful appearance and his maddeningly stubborn personality. Stubborn enough to still be loyal to the City, and to her and to her family after what she had put him through so many years ago. Funny, how the evidence of her betrayal was purposely placed in his care, and yet she was not worried. Sitting in front of her was a man that had sold out an entire militia to her tyrant father to protect _her_.

. . . All because he had once loved her, a greedy, undeserving woman. Funny how fate found a way to punish people like her in the smallest of ways. She knew that he would not do anything to hurt Aiden, but she couldn't imagine what was going through Torn's head when she and Jak approached him with their request.

"Okay," Ashelin finally clipped out. Torn looked up from his search, pushing a drawer shut, gripping a pen in his hand; she rolled her eyes at his triumphant smirk. "I trust you. You know what you're doing so I'm leaving it all in your hands."

Nodding his appreciation, Torn reached for his coffee mug and lifted it to his lips grimacing at the taste of the lukewarm mud - his secretary was horrible at making coffee. "Doesn't mean I won't let her get beaten up though." Torn noted, taking another sip of his drink, nonchalantly while Ashelin glowered into him.

"I'm going to kill you, Torn." Ashelin growled. "I hope you lose your pen again."

"Wow." Torn set the mug down and reach for his ballpoint pen, clicking it repeatedly as he smiled at her. "That's harsh, Ashelin."

**A/N:** I'll make it clear that Ashelin did not cheat on Torn. She fell out of love with him, broke up with him, and began seeing Jak. She was reflecting on how quickly the entire chain of events had occurred, far too quickly for Torn to process - especially after Jak and Ashelin's child had been born. Torn's been a bit bitter toward the girl ever since - more so due to Aiden being a complete and total brat. But still. . . Scumbag Ashelin. /3 I feel like this is a bit of back story that didn't need to be completely explained without going into an entire new story (Considered though) so I thought I'd give you the rundown.

*Fun fact: **Anankism** refers to the Anankastic Personality Disorder which is more commonly known as Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. :) The more you know!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I apologize. I had the last chapter I posted mixed up with this one. This chapter is suppose to be Chapter 4.**

-Oly

**FIVE YEARS LATER **

Rayn found her dark eco.

It took a long time to recover, but here it was, trapped beneath the sewers of Dead Town, of all places. She had spent years chasing clue after clue, searching all areas of Haven City and the outskirts without a single result to show for her effort. It was not a simple feat with the Freedom Guard always breathing down her neck, but she managed to keep well out of Kras and Haven's spotlight, cringing as her reputation continued to dwindle along with her dark eco supply connections.

She still had a hard time believing that she was able to find it without being detected by Ashelin or her Guard, and how no one knew a damn thing about the giant tub of dark eco sitting right under their noses. What was once a great eco silo high up in a place called the Forbidden Jungle was now a completely forgotten relic sunk deep underground.

Rayn stood on a grated path above the silo top. The vast chamber housing the relic had a walkway path wrapped in a circle around the silo lid leading to a bricked up doorway on the other side. As excited as she was to find her treasure, Rayn felt a wave of anxiety wash over her from standing so high above the silo. She refused to go any farther on the path without knowing the structural integrity of the walkway. The fact she could not see the bottom made her all the more nervous, and excited. This would be the most eco she will ever see in her lifetime, and it was all _hers_ now.

She needed to figure out how to get the large container open and recovered before her excavation team was found out, and they would be eventually. Judging from the book she had taken so many years ago, there were once people purposely trapped within the silo. She was expecting to find precursor mech and skeletons within, if it all hasn't disintegrated into nothing already.

"I want someone to climb down there." Rayn announced to the group standing behind her. She turned and pointed down. "I want to know how far down this silo goes, and if there is any structural damage or leaks."

"I'll go." Finn replied from the back of the group. "I have climbing experience so it shouldn't be an issue. I'll need gear though."

Rayn nodded her approval. "I'd also like Maria to go with you. Make your way into Haven and get all the equipment you need for the both of you. You have your alias ready?"

Finn nodded and turned to leave. "I'll be back within an hour."

Finn returned as promised, and began preparing his gear while Rayn discussed eco retrieval with Maria - the chief engineer in the group. "The only thing I can think of is siphoning the eco into barrels, or tapping the bottom of the silo and running an underground pipe from here to Kras, but you're looking at years of work, Miss Rayn."

"Do what must be done to crack open that silo safely and without notice from Haven City. I assure you that I have the resources and funds to run a pipe to Kras. If not to Kras, then a safe location away from this city into the Wastelands."

"I can see the Wastlands being a cheaper, quicker opportunity for you to gain access to the dark eco, but I can't lay pipe underground and eventually someone will notice." Rayn nodded in reluctant agreement. "We'll discuss it when you return."

"Maria, I'm ready for you." Finn called from the walkway in front of the women.

Wishing her luck, Rayn waved Maria away to prepare for her descent, looking at her watch she sighed and grumbled to herself. "Fae should have called me an hour ago."

Finn approached Rayn, cracking a grin at the woman's concern for the young apprentice. He spoke as he tugged gloves onto his hands, and adjusted the gear strapped around his legs and waist. "The kid's trying to get on the Haven City planning committee. I doubt it's a ten minute interview and a drug test."

"The board meeting started three hours ago - I can't imagine the committee digging this deeply into someone's work history."

"She'll be fine." Finn assured Rayn, pecking her on the lips softly before returning to help Maria standing at the edge of the walkway to help her into her gear. "Ready to rock 'n roll, Chief?" Maria gave Finn a terrified look, swallowing hard; perspiration very noticeable on her face and chest. She looked like she was ready to pass out.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I've never done this before."

Finn shrugged, checking Maria's gear once more before sitting down and dropping over the edge to hang midair; staring up at the obviously terrified woman he offered a hand. "You'll be fine. It's a piece of cake." He helped Maria down and soon the duo descended into the dark cavern, belayed by Finn's men. Rayn stepped closer to the grated walkway and observed Finn cracking a glow stick to light their way in the darkness.

It felt like ages had passed before they finally reached the bottom. A dark liquid reflected the light hanging from Finn's hip, immediately alarming the man. Clutching at the radio on his shoulder, he pressed the button to speak to the men at the top. "Stop feeding the rope. We've gone as far as we can go." The pair stopped, hanging several feet above the surface of dark eco.

"There's probably a couple feet of dark eco down here, and look - there's another path down there." Maria had turned on her flashlight and attached it to her vest, allowing her hands free. She pointed at the curve of the chamber where an archway could barely be seen in the faint reflection of light. She pulled out a tape to measure the eco below her. "Three feet to the bottom." She announced to the man swinging slightly next to her.

Finn whistled, "That ain't too bad. Shouldn't be hard to drain." He moved his glow stick at the silo twenty feet in front of them. "Well, I'll be damned." Maria moved her flashlight to the silo and gasped audibly at the sight before them. "Wow." Finn immediately got on his radio, excitement noticeable in his voice. "Rayn, we're in luck. There looks like a pretty large crack at the bottom of the silo, but it's being blocked by something. It actually looks like a chamber -" Finn paused, squinting to "I don't see bones down here. Man, this is really cool though." If there were any more words forming in Finn's mind, they were promptly forgotten as a creature appeared out of the shadows and attacked Maria from her right side.

Blood curdling screaming and crying filtered up to the group still working in the sewer above the silo. Rayn ran to the edge of the platform as gunshots went off far below her. She could see the flashes of light from Finn's weapon and then merely black and silence. "Pull them up. Now. NOW!" Rayn demanded, her heart racing as her eyes searched the dark pit for signs of movement from Finn. Two men in the group grabbed their ropes and began hauling the pair to safety.

"Maria - she's not on the line, Rayn."

Rayn cursed. "Finn?"

"He's coming up." When they pulled him up onto the platform, the sight that greeted them was not for the weak of heart. He was alive, but barely. His face was barely recognizable, his left eye bulging from its socket, nose crushed in. Blood dripped from his eyes and nose down his chest. His breathing heavy and wheezing. Dark eco ran visibly through his body, muscles twitching from the pain.

Rayn dropped to her knees by his side. Trembling, she touched his shoulder causing him to writhe in pain. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Love." She pulled her hand away and sobbed quietly for a moment before pulling herself together. "Get the medic." She addressed the men who pulled Finn up from the pit. "Finn, Lover. Please tell me what did this to you?"

Finn grabbed at Rayn's jacket, pulling her close to him. "Hide." He gasped, struggling with his words as they bubbled from his throat, terror evident in his face. "Run."

"Oh, dear brother, we have more visitors." A delighted voice spoke from the middle of the chamber.

Had she not been exposed to Jak's dark and light eco powers in the past, Rayn would not have believed the sight before her. A man and woman, both equally skeletal and grotesque in color observed Rayn's group from high above the silo - literally floating. Dark eco crackled over their stretched gray skin, their clothing rotting away on their frames. Their eyes were black from their overexposure to dark eco. What was left of hair on their skulls was stark white and thinning.

"Who is the leader of this little expedition?" The man called out to the group.

"I am." Rayn replied coldly. "What have you done with my engineer?"

The woman sighed, pointing down into the pit, "The woman? She startled me... so now she's dead." She grinned at Rayn. "Was she a friend of yours? Pity if she was."

The man didn't give Rayn time to speak as he moved closer to the group. "I'd like to thank you personally for opening this dreaded chamber for us. We've been trapped for a very long time in this prison."

"I couldn't fathom why." Rayn snapped sarcastically. Her medic and the miner finally returned to the group, and Rayn stepped back to allow the medic space to work on Finn. She looked up at the group, "Prepare to run." Rayn spoke grimly. " I don't know if we'll make it out of here alive."

"Oh, where are my manners. I haven't properly introduced myself yet." The man wheezed, and placed his hand on his chest. "I'm Gol Acheron." He pointed to the woman behind him. "And this lovely lady is my twin sister, Maia." Rayn's eyes widened in shock. She remember a chapter of the Precursor Legacy book burned well into her mind, the page bookmarked and filled with notes. It was titled: Demise of the Dark Eco Sage, Gol Acheron." Written hundreds of years ago. "Impossible. You shouldn't be alive today. You were trapped in that silo for centuries."

Gol chuckled softly. "Dark eco works many wonders... if you've been exposed to it properly. Take for instance, our current shambled state." Gol inhaled and concentrated, in seconds his hair regrew, the muscle and fat on his body returned, his cheeks filled out. He looked behind himself to watch his sister repeat the same process. "We've been conserving our energy specifically for the moment someone would find this silo and would get us out of of this dungeon."

"So I've let you out, but I would like for my group to be able to leave as well, alive and unharmed."

Maia laughed. "You wish." She snarled at Rayn. "And risk being captured again? None of you will leave this place alive if I can help it."

"Enough, Maia." Gol spoke quietly. "They've done us a service by digging us out of our dungeon."

A silent discussion warred between siblings before Maia sighed, snapping harshly at Rayn. "Fine. Get them out of my sight before I kill them all."

Rayn turned to the group. "Go. Take Finn, make sure he lives. Do NOT tell another living soul about this, or I will have each and everyone of your heads when I return to the surface." The group disappeared from Rayn's sight. She exhaled heavily, praying silently that Finn stayed alive before turning to observe the siblings before her.

"Hmm- we might get along better than I thought we would." Maia muttered, boredly playing with her restored length of hair, legs crossed like she is sitting in midair. She let out a sigh and floated to the platform, landing softly on her bared feet, her brother close behind. "Well, now that your friend are all gone, you can tell us a little more about where we are, and who you are." She observed Rayn with much curiosity, and something else that Rayn could not pinpoint - she looked hungry? Obsessed? Mad. "You must be someone with a bit of knowledge of dark eco."

Gol nodded in agreement, his raspy voice echoing through the chamber as he approached Rayn. "Yes, to be searching for such a dangerous substance, you must be someone that has a vast knowledge of the ecos of the world. Are you a sage?"

"Oh, don't be a fool, brother. She is not a sage. I cannot smell any eco on the filth."

"I beg your pardon?" Rayn glared at Maia walking away from her brother and Rayn to the chamber entrance.

Gol interrupted Rayn's tirade before it could begin. "If you are not a sage, then at are you doing here?"

"My name is Rayn. I am searching for the largest eco deposit in the world."

"This?" Gol swept his hand through the chamber. "You consider this to be a large reserve?"

"Yes, all eco in the world has be depleted nearly to nothing - between wars, alien invasions, and a dying world economy. All eco has near vanished, secreted away by governments and private parties in hopes of either restoring all eco or making a quick credit."

"I doubt you're here on a sacrificial mission to protect my precious eco." Maia bit out.

"What year is it?"

"203 After Mar"

"Mar?" Unfamiliar with the name. We must have been locked away for such a long time."

Curiosity got the best of the Crime Lord as she directed a question toward Gol. "Do you depend on dark eco to live?"

"Yes, and no." Maia spoke curtly from the chamber entrance. She was looking through the expedition supplies as she spoke. "We've been feeding off rats for a very long time, but still our longevity will be short lived if this supply were to dwindle." She picked up the Precursor Legacy, bookmarked right on the chapter of the Acheron sibling's downfall, the picture of Jak and Daxter burning into her retinas. "Jak." She hissed. "Gol, look at this." Maia returned her brother's side, handing the book to him.

"Ahh, the boy and his pet rat." Gol sighed wearily. "He is the reason for our incarceration. It is a shame I couldn't kill him myself; more so that bratty ottsel that I gladly did not change back into an elf."

Rayn remained tight-lipped as they spoke. Her theory very much now confirmed that Jak and Daxter were either time travelers or centuries old, not that it really concerned her that much at the moment- she was pleased that she was able to make the connection in the first place. Most importantly, she needed to get the brother and sister away from the chamber so she could start siphoning dark eco to the desert. If she led them out of the maze of tunnels her group had dug out to Dead Town and Haven's sewer systems, it was possible they wouldn't find their way back. "Would you like see Haven city right outside?"

The siblings looked up from the book at Rayn's question, Gol speaking for the both of them, he shut the book, returning it to Rayn's possession. "The village is gone?"

Rayn nodded, hugging the literature to her chest, she walked backwards to the chamber entrance, placing the object on a table. "The population of the world has grown significantly in the last one hundred years. Unable to support that amount of the people, Sandover village was abandoned. It is now called Dead Town right outside the city."

An uncomfortable silence met her statement before Maia spoke abruptly, subconsciously startling Rayn. "I am hungry, brother." She looked at Gol pleadingly; he knew that she was not referring to eating. Maia hadn't killed anyone in a very long time, her desire to do so now taking the spotlight at the mention of entering an entire city of elves. Rayn watched the interaction with as little emotion on her face as possible - she didn't want to reveal that she was frightened or intimidated, but she was far from calm inside - knowing that eventually she would probably go to her death because of the Acheron twins.

To be around someone like Maia Acheron, who so openly enjoyed hurting and murdering people - to even the Crime Lord, a woman whose life revolved around violence and death, it was pushing the envelope. If Maia had the choice, she would bathe in the blood of elves - the epitome of evil; she had no motive but death.

Gol was hesitant to leave. With the devastating news that eco was nearly gone, he was afraid he'd return to a silo empty of his lifeblood. They would both die without dark eco, now so far gone to the deadly substance. There would be no returning to "normal" for him or his sister. "How do we get there?" He finally asked.

"The easiest way to get into the city is through the sewer system of Dead Town. I don't know the way through the sewers, but I can direct you to the entrance from here."

"Fine, take us to the surface."

Rayn nodded and turned to begin walking through the threshold of the dirt tunnel her group had dug.

"How do I know you aren't leading us into a trap?" Maia demanded from her place next to her brother.

Rayn paused turning back to give Maia a look of annoyance, her patience running thin with the insane woman. "Do you want to get out of here or not? It took me two years to find this chamber through the dirt filled maze of tunnels. If you kill me, good luck getting out of here. There are literally miles of empty rooms and tunnels for you to get lost in."

"Carry on then." Gol spoke for his sister, glaring at Maia, demanding she keep her mouth shut with the look in his eyes. They reached the structure signifying the beginning of Dead Town's sewers. The door hissed quietly, opening before the group. 'Now entering Haven Sewer Systems.' The female voice spoke automatically.

"This is where I get off." Rayn spoke. She looked behind her at the siblings. "I am no longer welcome in the city limits - including its sewers."

"No, you are coming with us." Gol spoke calmly.

Maia appeared behind Rayn before she could move and grasped her arm tightly. "Hey, that hurts!"

"Why would we let you go? You're the only person who can lead us back to our silo." Maia smirked.

_Damn it, I'm dead_. Rayn thought grimly. She knew then that she was stuck with the siblings indefinitely. "Fine. Let us go. I don't know how to get to the city, so it might take us awhile."

"Lead the way."


	5. Chapter 5

**EDIT: This is actually Chapter 5. Had a file mix up. Please read Chapter 4 first. I apologize for any confusion.**

**-Oly**

* * *

Footsteps echoed softly through the hallway and paused outside the open door to his office. He glanced over his shoulder, noticing a young woman standing at attention in the doorway. Silently, Torn returned to his current objective of cleaning his weapon, knowing quite well who the blonde was that invaded his small bit of personal time. He had nothing in particular to say to her at the moment so he continued with his self-imposed assignment.

He picked up the grip of his gun, and gave it one final wipe down, cleaning the last of the gun oil from the crevices of the trigger and safety. With the artfulness that came with years of experience, he quickly pulled the gun back together and placed it in the holster on his thigh before completely removing his gear. The gun cleaning kit was carefully reorganized and closed before Torn returned it to its rightful place on his bookshelf.

"At ease." He spoke finally to the Cadet; his rough voice reverberated throughout the large, nearly empty room. The girl relaxed, hands behind her back, chest out and stomach in, feet shoulder width apart; she watched her Commander curiously, silently.

Glancing at the clock above his desk, Torn scoffed at the time before looking down at his desk to straighten his unfinished paperwork, laying the lone black pen across the paper at an angle that could only satisfied him. "Wow, you're actually early . . . for once." The sarcasm dripped from every word; he turned around and rested his eyes on his younger companion. His face was hard, but the mirth was clearly evident in his gold flecked hazel eyes.

Giving her a single nod, the Cadet dropped her rest position and quietly shut the door behind her. When she turned back to him, a half cocked smile lit up her features before she gave Torn the best exaggerated sigh she could muster. The man almost smirked, but that was part of this little game of hers; he instead chose to ignore her fake melodrama.

She would never admit it, but she thoroughly enjoyed pissing with the Commander in attempts to make him lose his cool, but he had the patience of a saint. Ironically, her father once told her that Torn was one of the most impatient people he had ever come across in his life. Aiden had come to the conclusion a long time ago that Torn had developed his fortitude by taking her in as a student. Even more likely, it was developed the moment she learned to walk. The man deserved a vacation and a bonus, alongside her parents.

Torn leaned into his desk and crossed his arms. "I wasn't expecting you for another ten minutes. I'm really impressed with the timeliness, Aiden. I'm going to assume that Delilah wasn't around today to make you late."

Aiden didn't answer, but mocked Torn's mini-lecture, pretending to tap her finger on her non-existent watch and shaking her head in mock disappointment. Huffing, she pointedly placing her hands on her hips before sticking her tongue out at Torn like an overgrown child.

This time, Torn gave in with a roll of his eyes, and chuckled as he walked around his desk, "I always expect that from you, Runt. You could be a great mime, you know?"

He felt her narrowed eyes on him as he pulled his hand wrappings out of the top drawer. She did not like being called a runt but it was _his _name for her and some way, some how she tolerated it. Her brow furrowed and she bit her lip in attempt to keep silent.

Torn looked up and was caught unaware when a spastic and erotic thought hit him the moment he watched her bite her lip; immediately he grew uncomfortable standing still, clearing his throat and swallowing hard, he began pacing back and forth and tried to find something else to focus on. He was highly disturbed at the intrusive thoughts. It was not the first time it had happened to him.

The girl decided to watch the man, mutely and stone faced, not revealing her thoughts any more than what she had in the last few minutes. Torn walked back and forth behind his desk as he carefully encircled the white cotton around his large callused hands. He seemed to be deep in concentration, a troubled look fell on his face. The girl chuckled softly to herself at the idea of a real life war hero pacing about while doing such a menial task as wrapping his hands, well…it was adorable and as silly as its sounded, showed his vulnerability.

After looking at his "ugly" mug six days a week for the past five years, there was no doubt that he could rage out just as well as she could. He smiled, laughed, was funny as hell when he wanted to be, and could even be just as miserable. She knew first hand on many occasions. Aiden would never forget the day he came into work with the flu. It was probably one of the saddest and funniest days in the cadet's time at the academy as she watched him bark orders at people, white as a ghost and sweating bullets, and then he turned green and only got as close to the bathroom as the wastebasket beside the foyer elevator before puking his guts out.

The man absolutely refused to go home even with fervent demands from the Nurse. Instead, Aiden had found him passed out on the couch in his office. She tossed his coat over him and left his wastebasket by his side before leaving for the night, deciding it would be best to cancel the lessons for him. She never mentioned it after the fact, and neither did he.

It _would_ surprise many people to know that Torn was now one of Aiden's best friends. After a few rough years of constant fighting between the two, and resistance from Aiden - she's finally developed into what Torn had told her mother she would become: an upright citizen. She still had her issues that needed worked out, but Aiden was a completely different person from the young girl that entered the academy five years earlier.

No one would be able to tell they were friends with the way they acted in public, but behind closed doors he was surprisingly a big softie. He was open minded, kind and did not discuss any of her problems with her parents to the relief of the young woman. There did not seem to be a single ounce of selfishness in the man's bones; it truly was a breath of fresh air after being around the Ottsel family for so many hours in a day.

It was unfortunate that some of her less than friendly peers noticed the dynamic of the pair. Now they called her Torn's Bitch because of the excessive amount of time she had to spent at the Academy with him. But she would never let him know that in fear of changing the relationship once again; years of work to even develop this friendship would go down the drain.

After finishing with his hands, Torn removed his Guard jacket, revealing his tattooed, scarred arms; lean and powerful from years of hardship and training. He wore a basic black T-shirt, which exemplified how simple of a life he really enjoyed; unconcerned with the fashions of the city, he preferred relaxed and comfortable. The shirt was tucked in around his waist, and finished off with fatigue field pants. His military issued pistol belt was already laying in front of him on the desk.

Aiden realized a long time ago that she had a fetish for pistol belts, not only for the simple access to a gun but because Torn wore them almost every day. It was like a piece of him was missing if he showed up at her home or at the Naughty Ottsel in civilian clothing and with no pistol belt. It was strangely unsettling to her. . . but it was not as unsettling as how constant her thoughts about the man in front of her had become.

Finally finished with his preparations, Torn pushed his focus to his awaiting pupil. Clearing his throat he smiled, "Ready to begin?"

Aiden nodded silently, throwing her gear on the floor next to her. Already warmed up from her jog around the school, she practically tip toed towards Torn. Torn laughed heartily, "Your stealthiness is failing, Runt."

Aiden stopped, a look of mock defeat on her face but she bound across the space between herself and Torn. She paused an arms distance from her instructor and stood in her fighting stance for hand to hand combat.

He walked up to the blonde and positioned himself, waiting for her first attack. She was not frightened of Torn's intimidating sneer or of his size. Keeping a neutral face, she lunged at him, aiming her fist at his face. She cursed herself silently for her sudden unthoughtful move as she knew it would not end very well.

Torn grabbed her fist roughly and pulled her towards his body. He gracefully sidestepped her, elbowing his pupil in the middle of her back, and hard. He heard a rather satisfying grunt of pain from the woman, but he was too overconfident in his abilities. As he turned around, Aiden bent down and kicked his legs out from underneath him, knocking him down. Torn fell, catching himself before he would face plant into the floor. He rolled over onto his back and the girl immediately straddled his chest, pinning his arms to the ground.

"Round one. Winner: Aiden." She smirked at him; her eyes bright from her small victory.

Being a man, Torn found the view above him very lovely but the position was too risqué for his sudden burdening thoughts about his pupil. He pushed his teasing thoughts away and gazed up at Aiden. Calmly, he pushed his hips off the ground, catching Aiden off-guard. The girl gasped in surprise, letting go of Torn to catch herself from falling. Torn caught her by the arms and flipped her over, pinning her instead. He grinned in retaliation. "Nope, looks like I'm the victor, Runt."

Aiden narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. "I do have a name you know."

"I know," Torn stood up, careful to not crush her under his weight, and held out his hand to help her. "Hey, just like you do for me, I just take pleasure in pissing you off on a daily basis. Besides the name fits you…you're what? 5 foot tall? You haven't grown much in five years."

Aiden sighed and rolled her eyes. All in a days work when it came to training with Torn. She endured more teasing from him than anyone else in their circle of friends and family. "For your information I'm five foot and three inches tall." She wiggled three fingers in his face before accepting his hand. She stood, nearly jumping in the air. She rolled her neck and shrugged her shoulders to loosen up. "Let's go again Torn!" She bounced in place for a second before positioning herself in her fighting stance.

Torn rolled his eyes and moved to stand in front of his pupil. _She's as confident as ever, _he mused. "Well, now that we have established how short you really are, I could stand to take you down."

"Bring it old man. You may be taller, stronger and wiser, but you're still old."

"Ouch. Touché, Aiden."

Their jibes became few and far between as they continued to train, stopping every so often for Torn to comment on a move that Aiden did well or needed to adjust. As the minutes inched by, Aiden's eyes began to glaze over. She seemed to hear none of her teacher's advice or compliments. She was taking more enjoyment into hitting Torn than following his instruction. She was looking for blood, unrecognized by Torn or even herself.

Sweat slipped down Torn's brow as he blocked a punch. Aiden growled in frustration and spin kicked him in the stomach. Torn grunted in surprise and jumped back to regain his breath and focus his attention on the smirking girl. He really must be getting old. His reflexes were getting rusty, and he was now beginning to realize how hard Aiden could hit. She had become much stronger with each of their private practices and his body was really starting to feel it, but he won't tell her that. He would be hearing geezer jokes for days.

"Good kick." He circled his pupil slowly, never turning his back. He studied the girl - she was breathing hard, sweat matting blonde hair to her forehead, she was moved quietly in a circle with him. Her eyes were focused on him, but Aiden never appeared to actually look him in the eyes, even though she was.

He felt though, that something was off with his student, and had been for the last three weeks she had practiced with him. She was usually quiet _during_ lessons but this seemed to be over kill. Where were the silly dumb jokes she spouted out at random moments during their spars? Or the snorting and laughter?

It was if someone else had taken her place. Her eyes were unusually angry, even for her stoic front. He was beginning to think that she could possibly be upset at him or having some form of teenage drama. It truly was not any of his business to butt in on Aiden's personal life but, there was obviously something pretty serious going on. He will talk to her after the lesson he finally decided.

"Try to relax and keep your muscles loose. Getting aggravated and tightening up will will only get you killed." He stopped his circling. "Now, come at me again."

And she did, only with more power then he had imagine she would have so late into their training. She came at him with explosive kicks, aiming for the pressure points on his legs and knees. He blocked and dodged and eventually tired, letting his guard down enough for Aiden to get closer. She struck the nerve running down the outer side of Torn's thigh - his leg buckled, allowing Aiden to get closer. She swung a left hook into Torn's side and than attempted to elbow him in the neck. He was able to grab her arm in time; hand squeezing tight on her forearm as a furious growl bubbled from his throat.

"Are you _trying_ to fucking kill me!?" He threw Aiden's arm down, shoving her away from him. He watched her tumbled to the ground on her back before stalking away, holding onto the desk trying to calm his fury. "We are done for today." He gritted out. He picked up his towel wiping the sweat from his eyes.

Aiden stared at Torn's back, a confused look gracing her face. Whatever she had done, it obviously pissed off Torn. It was very rare for him to be angry with her these days. She reached up to wipe sweat out of her eyes, noticing the red print of fingers near her wrist. She rubbed at the mark before sitting up completely. "I-I'm sorry, Sir.." Her chest heaving up and down, her legs felt like jelly as she stood. Unsure of what else she could say, she turned and walked toward the doorway.

She was mortified to say the least. She could feel that dark angry part of her mind crawling back into the nest it made in her head, leaving her with a very angry Torn and a need to come up with an excuse for whatever did occur. Her best idea was to leave, and immediately. She picked up her bag, strapping it across her chest and was ready to depart without another word to her instructor. She paused in the doorway as Torn spoke to her from across the room.

"Cadet Mar, come here please." Torn watched Aiden stiffen up before turning back into the room; her face was blank of emotions. He knew that face, it meant she was getting ready to shoulder a lecture. She returned to her instructor, standing in front of him as he grabbed a bottle of water off his desk, tossing it to the girl.

She grabbed it out of the air, grasping it tightly in both hands, she studied the bottle as she spoke, "Torn, I'm really sorry."

Torn held his hand out and shook his head. "Quit apologizing. I'll put a boot up your ass." He smirked and cocked his head, holding the young woman in his gaze. "You're just like your father and yet so different."

Aiden frowned. "I'm sure it's all the bad qualities you're talking about."

Torn chuckled and nodded. "You got his fighting skills, his anger, and oh that bad attitude - eh, I'd say that comes from both of your parents." He winked at the girl before taking a sip of his water.

Her frowned deepened and she crossed her arms haughtily. "Thank you for the immense support." Sarcasm dripped from her words.

"Aiden, you're one of the best students I have had the honor of personally training in fifteen years, but your anger and impatience slows you down. I can't help you reach the peak of your training unless you _willingly_ try to calm yourself down. A true warrior never gets angry or upset." Torn grimly looked up at the young woman. He could see a muscle twitching in her jaw.

"I know." Aiden looked away in embarrassment, she could feel her face heating up.

Torn continued, pretending not to notice Aiden's discomfort. "With the being said, is there something bothering you? Whatever is gong on is affecting you, but I can't be sure because you pretty much stopped talking to me altogether in the last few weeks. I do miss our conversations. Don't listen to those rumors of me being an intimidating bastard because you now know firsthand they aren't true." Torn smiled mischievously. Aiden gave him a weak smile in return and shifted uncomfortably, gripping hard at her bag.

Snap. Snap. She fiddled with the strap across her chest. Not being the only person to know her secret. It frightened her and yet she craved the support she knew she would get from Torn, and most importantly, the assistance from her father.

It would probably be better to break the silence first with Torn than Jak. She could handle Torn's reaction better being so use to his asshole attitude. Her father would be angry and then remorseful for the pain she would have to endure from the ugly defect he passed on. She could see the look of disappointment in his eyes already. It would not be disappointment in Aiden but with himself. She could never blame him for what Baron Praxis did to him or indirectly to her. She really did not want to see the hurt in her father's eyes - she hated it as much as she hated the defect.

Sighing, Aiden sat down hard and stared at Torn's boot, afraid to make eye contact with him. What an interesting black boot… _There's a dirt spot on the toe_. Aiden mentally smacked herself for delaying, _Suck it up and tell him already!_ She swallowed and began to speak.

"Torn..." A tremor invaded her voice but she cleared her throat and pressed on. "Could I tell you something? But first, you have to promise me you won't say anything to anyone. Not even to my parents."

Torn sat down in front of Aiden; he leaned his back against his desk before speaking. "You have my word, Runt." He smiled reassuringly at her.

Torn was the only person that Aiden even honestly trusted outside her family. She didn't even express any confidence in her best friend Delilah as much as she did Torn. He knew more about her than her own parents. Buried under his ego streak, he felt pity for Aiden's parents. They loved their only child with all of their hearts and yet she could not face them with any of her problems. She pretended to be happy for them and somehow they ate it up. It must be Mar genetics; too proud to be a coward if it could be called cowardice.

"When I fight..." Torn looked up as Aiden spoke unaware of how lost in thought he was. He noticed her face was lined with the shadows of exhaustion; her eyes, usually bright and determined were dark and fearful. Why hadn't he noticed this before?

Aiden stared into Torn's eyes a moment and then looked away. "I go into this world... someone or something is lurking in the shadows, telling me what I must do. They... they make me angry and I begin to hurt people when we train. I can't control it at all." Her hands began to shake. Realizing that, she put her hands under her thighs.

Torn clenched his fists in a surprised anger. He knew exactly where Aiden was going with the conversation. He had hoped it would never happen to her but luck was not on their side as it seemed. _Fucking Praxis._ "Aiden, just a few minutes ago - were you with me or were you in this world?"

"I've lost thirty minutes of time." She scoffed to herself. She returned her gaze to Torn. "Did I hurt you?"

"No." Torn rubbed his neck. "But you were going for my jugular."

"Oh, I am sorry about that."

"I am fine, but you are not. You're in the beginning stages of absorbing dark eco. Eventually you could be a threat to everyone and yourself. I think that if this continues on, we'll have to talk to your father. He's the only one who can help you combat this."

Aiden nodded and sighed in relief; she pulled her ponytail out and raked a shaking hand through her hair, disgusted at the how sweaty she was. It felt so much better to get that off her chest. "I'm trying to fight it Torn but it has been difficult. It takes a lot of my concentration to ignore whatever is in my head. It really is draining; I can't really sleep at night anymore."

"…So we should tranquilize your ass. Maybe that will help you sleep - the silence would be _amazing._" Torn teased, chuckling at the sour look that graced Aiden's face before she too began to laugh.

"You're entertaining when you're cranky Runt."

Aiden looked down at the floor, smiling at Torn's odd compliment. "You wouldn't say that if you had to wake me up in the morning. I'd tear into you. Not so entertaining."

"I guess that's why we work so well together, eh? We're both assholes and hate mornings."

Aiden nodded in agreement. She leaned back and placed her hands behind her and began to roll her neck. Her exposed tan throat caught Torn's eyes. He watched the sinewy stretch of muscles shift under her skin. Torn broke himself from his trance, clearing his throat."You should consider letting your father know soon about your powers. He will help you. I promise you that." Torn paused as Aiden stood up, stretching her arms to the ceiling. "There's only so much that I can do." He finished softly almost as if he was speaking to himself. He visually traced the curve of her hips in appreciation.

"I know. I just need some time to let this sink it." Aiden grimaced as she bent to the side. "I'm going to have a bruise on my ass and back. Thanks for kicking me so much today."

"You're quite welcome. Just returning the favor." Torn stood up too trying to avoid looking at Aiden anymore than he should. He looked up at the clock and back at Aiden. "All right kid. It's about dinner time so you better get home. Are you going to the Naughty Ottsel tonight?"

Aiden was reaching for her bomber jacket and hoverboard once more. "Yeah, I'll be there. Sig's taking me to Spargus tomorrow to start leadership training and I have to find out what time we're going to be leaving." Aiden rolled her eyes. "I'll be at the bar in about an hour."

Torn nodded. He had completely forgotten that she would be leaving and this would be their last lesson for awhile. He suddenly became very uncertain about leaving the matter on hand for another day. They would have to talk more about it at the bar.

"All right Runt. See you tonight." Aiden waved silently and walked out the door. Torn watched her leave. He rubbed his face tiredly and sighed with pent up frustration. The girl was full of dark eco just like her father. She would eventually become a danger to society, more of a social misfit than she already was - just like Jak. He could not fathom the idea of Aiden being shunned like Jak had been. There would be absolutely no justice to the entire matter.

Torn was there for Aiden, and her problem could never change that fact. The little punk was never going to get rid of him, and he had promised her that the moment she stepped foot in the academy at the age of twelve. Sadly, it was more of a threat back then, but it still held true in his mind. Aiden would never be alone.

No matter what. He had her back.


	6. Chapter 6

A warm spring afternoon was shifting into a dark, stormy night in the Eastern Bazaar. Outside a large linen tent, vendors yelled ferociously attempting to attract attention to their various wares. The tent went unheeded by the bustling customers shopping for their evening meal before the rain began. A colorful large bird flew over the crowds and slipped into the tent where Onin once again resided.

Smoke curled lazily around the head of the blind soothsayer as Pecker landed softly on her metal hat. Candles scattered about the room cast shadows on the old woman's face creating deeper lines in her already aged skin. It appeared she was sleeping, but Pecker knew better. She was sitting up and in her usual lotus position; her ankles crossed over her knees. How she was still alive and able to wear the heavy helmet was beyond his imagination. She had rudely awakened him from his slumber merely twenty minutes before forcing him to return to the Prophet's aide. Onin sure knew how to give her feathered friend a nightmare, and it had better be for a damned good reason.

Immediately Pecker cleared his throat and gave Onin his evening greetings. The soothsayer slowly opened her eyes and began signing to Pecker.

"_Good evening, Pecker. It seems that danger is once again to befall upon our __hero, Jak."_

"Imagine that," Pecker scoffed. "Pray tell the danger, Onin." He waved his wing for her to continue, forgetful of Onin's blindness. He began preening feathers as he waited. Damn old bat- waking him up from a nap for a bloody prophecy.

"_An old enemy lost in time has returned. Caution must follow the daughter of Mar."_

Pecker paused in his ministrations, and cocked his feathered eyebrow at Onin's statement, "Aiden? What does Aiden have to do with anything? Ahh," he sighed, exasperated. He glided to his perch across from the old woman, and turned to stare quizzically at her. "Why the hell do I even bother to ask? Is there a time line?"

"_The Mar family has had their time of peace. Fate has decided that it is time to bestow this unknown danger upon their daughter. When and how can never accurately be answered."_

"That why it's called a prophecy." Pecker muttered to himself. A statue promptly fell on his head. Cursing, he rubbed the bump before seething venomously at the old witch. "Okay, so what do you want me to do, woman?"

"_Deliver this message to Aiden: 'Be mindful of your consciousness and of __your fury heart. Only in the arms of death will your enemies repent for their growing sins. Heed your passion as a vessel of hope to your pain.'"_

"Sappiest shit I've heard in a long time," Pecker muttered to himself. Smoke began gathering around his head, choking him. "Alright! Alright!" He flew cautiously towards the door and turned around to look at the soothsayer. "Anything else?

"_That is all Pecker. Thank you. I will call you again in the future." _Onin closed her eyes and fell silent.

Pecker glared at the prophet before slipping out of the make shift home and retreating outside into the crowds of the Haven Bazaar. He really needed to find a new job.

* * *

"Jak! Jak!? Are you there? Come in! It's VIN. EMERGENCY!"

Jak stopped in his tracks, and glared behind himself at the entrance to the power station no more than twenty feet away. He had just left a meeting with Vin and already the paranoid computer was attempting to irritate him.

_Seriously? _Jak thought in a moment of annoyance. He pulled his communicator off his belt with a sigh before lifting it near his mouth. He depressed the talk button, holding back the urge to yell into the little box of wires and electronics. "WHAT, Vin?"

Vin began talking a mile a minute "Oh thank the precursors, you can hear me. You won't believe the _massive_ surge of electricity that just went through the eco grid! It's going through only this zone. I can't really see what it is, but it's screwing up my cameras. You better take a look. It's over by the old sewer doors. Oh, and whatever it is, don't let it get into my system, or I'll be toast. Luckily, I have back-ups of my back-ups... I better make more... I have never experienced anything like that in all my years as a multi-layered hyper linking digi-memic-bio-construct-super-clocked-mega-memory construct."

"Yeah, I get it, Vin... you're a computer." Jak replied dryly. "Well, since you're sending us in blind, any idea if you caught a glimpse of whatever this thing is before your cameras went to shit?"

"Let me check." The communicator went silent for five seconds. "It- whatever _they _are, they came from the sewers. I see three figures coming out from behind the door before my feed was cut. Jak, you better be careful."

Jak looked at Daxter sitting on his shoulder plate. They rolled their eyes, and smirked at each other. "You got it, Vin." Jak placed the communicator back on his belt before speaking directly to Daxter. "See? I told you this would happen. This is why I don't do many favors for Torn any more. I thought we got over this errand boy circle-jerk years ago."

"Let's just get this over with, big guy. The girls are waiting, and Tessie-poo is already mad at me as it is. Damn, I could go for a cold one right now." Daxter wistfully gazed off at the idea of a drink in his claws.

"I have an idea about that." Jak walked down the ramp and jumped onto his hover-board, moving in the direction of the sewer doors. "Maybe... if you helped out more at your own bar, she wouldn't be so mad."

"This fight's about Dee. She wants to go to Spargus with your kid."

"Oh. I see. Well, good luck, Dax." Jak quickly reached, scratching behind Daxter's ear before returning to keeping his balance on his board.

"Jak- you suck at giving parental advice, but thanks for scratching my ear."

"No problem, bud."

* * *

This was Haven's industrial zone. It had not changed much since the Metal Head Wars and the invasion of the KG Deathbots. Many of the structures and roads were maintained or rebuilt quickly after Jak and Daxter brought peace upon the city. Red and grey lights flickered on, illuminating the nearly empty section of the city. The sewer doors nestled under a walkway deep in the zone hissed open softly and two figures step out into the growing darkness, glancing about in wonder at the massive metal walls surrounding them.

"What is this filthy place?" A woman hissed quietly. She stepped out into the fading light squinting in pain.

"I believe Maia," a scratchy guttural voice called out from the shadows, "that this is the place we once called home."

Rayn stepped out of the sewer to stand next to the siblings. "This is the industrial zone of Haven City." She responded boredly. My father use to have several businesses in this zone before he was killed. I know the city well enough to direct you where you would like to be, but I will go no further than this zone.

Gol eyed her curiously, "I have a feeling there is something you are not telling us, Miss Rayn."

"I've nothing to hide. I am not allowed in the city limits - I am what is called a Crime Lord, a leader of organized criminal activity in another city called Kras. My relationship with the leaders of either city isn't the most agreeable."

"I see. You may still be of some use to my sister and I then." Gol responded evenly, he returned his attention to his sister walking away from the duo, but his thoughts churned heavily on the woman beside him. There was still something about the woman that he simply could not place. Did he trust her? Not at all. Did he need her? Indefinitely.

Maia ignored the conversation behind her and instead stepped further out onto the sewer ramp to look about. Her lavender skin began to crackle with dark eco in anticipation of feeding her desire. Maia's calculating eyes adjusted quickly as she began to search the area. A strange smile grew on her face as she watched a young couple with a stroller walk past on the walkway above.

She turned to her brother with delight in her eyes, "It smells ripe for destruction." She practically skipped away from the sewer doors almost like a child disobeying their parent's orders to not go outside.

Gol gritted his teeth, trying not to explode on his twin sister. He had a feeling that once they escaped that fucking silo that their presence would be revealed a lot sooner than expected with her nasty desires to kill anything that crossed their path. He stopped behind his sister and wondered at the metal walls. They could not be far from what use to be Sandover village. The dark eco silo they had been trapped in for the last few hundred years was most likely near-at-hand from the village.

Maia floated up to a platform with her dear brother and a slightly panicking Rayn, clinging to Gol, not far behind. She landed catlike in the shadows of the walkway wall. Looking around the corner, she smiled widely at the sight in front of her. "It's been such a long time...I'm itching to see if my full powers still work." Maia cracked her knuckles, and giggled softly to herself.

Three Freedom Guards were walking toward the unseen group. Maia sauntered out of the dark towards the guards. She smirked at the catcalls and vulgar hellos directed her way. She flipped her hair innocently over her shoulder, and pouted, stopping in front of the men. Before the front guard could utter a hello, Maia's hand grasped at his face.

A charge of dark eco ripped through her hand and she unflinchingly crushed the man's face in, splattering blood on her face and chest. She effortlessly threw the guards body down the platform, and licked the blood off her fingers sensually with a purr deep within her throat. "Mmm…Yum."

She vaguely heard Rayn's panicked scream behind her, and the screams and calls for backup in front of her. She ran forward and pushed eco lightning out of her fingertips and into the heart of the left guard. He fell, twitching still from the dark eco pumping through his system. A flash of blue bolted pass Maia and she heard the last guard scramble down the walkway. She caught up to him without a problem; a slow twist of the head to the right and a snap satisfied her blood lust, if only for a little while. The last of the guards crumpled to the ground in a heap, unmoving.

"That felt so good," Maia sighed contently. Gol opened his mouth to declare her thick headed for what she had just committed, but was quickly interrupted. A screech fell upon the twins' ears making their hair stand on end in uneasy anticipation and utter confusion.

"I'm telling you, Jak. We shouldn't be coming this way. I got nasty juju vibes as soon as we walked in this zone. Something went down!"

It was a voice they remembered all too well to forget. It helped send them to the catacombs, trapping them for hundreds of years. Gol walked over to the edge of the platform, peering down. A blond man in his late thirties was walking up a ramp towards them and on his shoulder was the rat Gol never changed back into a human.

Rayn had felt sick when Maia killed the guard, but she felt even worse at the sound of Daxter's voice. If Jak and Daxter saw Rayn with the Acheron twins, she'd be dead either by Jak's hand or the twins. She backed up slowly in an attempt to return to the sewer gate, not before Gol grabbed her around the waist, and shot up to the roof the building they were standing in front of. The flight put Rayn out of breath, as she fell to her knees gasping.

Jak chuckled, "Your vibes comfort me, Dax." Jak pulled his scatter gun out and checked the ammo. He felt and smelled dark eco… and blood, and it got stronger as he walked up the ramp. He paused at the line of blood trickling passed his boot before moving forward, cautiously following the trail until he came upon bodies lying on the platform in odd angles, muscles still twitching, even in death.

"Holy shit." Jak spoke out loud at the gruesome sight in front of him.

He checked the front guard's lifeless body first, gore and blood pooling underneath him. Jak carefully pushed him over with his foot. He squatted down and pulled off the remains of the guard's mask. The face was unrecognizable, dark eco still sparked in places over the body. His brown hair was matted with the stickiness of blood. The dark blue tattoos that Jak could see were untouched on the guard's neck. He searched for a pulse, disappointed when he could not find one.

"Oh man." Dax turned away, almost retching at the sight. He jumped off Jak's shoulder, avoiding the mess on the platform, and crossed his arms, huffing in annoyance at Jak. "I told you! Why don't you EVER listen to me?"

"Do I ever listen to you?" Jak asked solemnly, turning his eyes to Daxter.

Daxter closed his mouth, pausing in thought. "Yeah, in fact, you do never listen to me! You should really start to because my verbal skills surpass yours, and so does my psychic ability. My mind is telling me to stay away - leave! We should be listening to me!"

Jak shook his head at Daxter, ignoring him as best as he could. While the ottsel kept rambling on about his greatness, he noticed the distance between the right guard and the other two bodies. _This one must have tried to run away. _Jak thought solemnly to himself. _This can't be a metal head's doing._

Standing above the last guard, Jak knew there was no point checking for a pulse. He could see from the angle of his neck that there was no way the man would have survived. He called the murder in to Freedom HQ and stayed with the victims' bodies until the crime scene and medical units got to the scene. Looking around, a feeling of uneasiness filled Jak. He felt as if he was being watched.

"Hmm…now my vibes are messed up." He muttered to himself. He gazed up at the top of the buildings. In the back of his mind, he knew that was where the answer to his problem would lie. The dark eco smell burned his nostrils. He merely shook it off and placed his gun on his back, retrieving his hover-board.

"Hey Jak! The Freedom League is here," Daxter climbed onto Jak's shoulder. "I think it's about time we go back. The girls won't be happy with us for delaying family time."

Frustrated, Jak meditated for a moment on the spot, hoping he had the energy to make it until the end of the day. He was unusually tired all of the sudden. "No, we got to stop at Vin's again so I can see the video feed he recorded." He trotted to the edge of the walkway, "Hold on Dax." Jumping off, he landed on his hover-board smoothly, to go in the direction he came from.

Daxter sighed loudly, rolling his eyes at his friend. "Okay, buddy. You better hope I'm not in the doghouse tonight."

"You won't be, but you're in charge of telling the women we're going to be late when we stop at the power station." He grinned wickedly at his furry friend.

"I hate you."

* * *

From a roof across the platform, Gol and Maia watched the two figures disappear from their vision in disbelief. It was definitely the boy Jak and the rat. Jak only looked a little older, harder and angry; unless this man was a descendant of Jak? But it couldn't be. They called each other by Jak and Daxter and moved and acted as they did hundreds of years before. The rat especially acted just the same as the last time they encountered him: snotty and full of himself.

Rayn leaned against the roof wall trying to stop herself from hyperventilating, thankful that the duo didn't mention her name and that they didn't see her. Gol studied Rayn in her panic attack for a moment before addressing Maia.

"I can't seem to rid myself of those two…" Gol rasped out in disbelief. "Maybe then, it is meant to be. Maybe the precursors have blessed us with this moment." He stared at his sister in revelation at the idea, and began rising into the air. "Maia, we have unfinished business to attend to."

"Good. Let me be the first to torture the ottsel."

"In due time. First, we follow. Take Rayn." He then floated up into the air moving in the direction of the Dynamic Duo.

Maia growled, already sick of babysitting Rayn, she contemplated dropping the woman to the concrete below. Instead of dealing with her brother's wrath, she grasped at Rayn's arm pulling her from her seated position. "Come on, Useless."

* * *

The front door opened and closed with a soft click. Barely a sound could be heard from where the kitchen was located but she could hear that door.

_Jak._

Ashelin always knew when he was home. He disliked disturbing his family with his constant going in and out of the house at odd hours. He developed the courtesy of opening the door quietly when Aiden had been born many years ago. Being a hardened war hero, one would not expect Jak to mellow out so well and actually develop manners. Ashelin could only assume that it had to do with the instant bond he developed with Aiden the first time he laid eyes on her. Ashelin knew from that moment after they argued over who could hold their daughter first that Aiden had her daddy wrapped around her tiny baby fingers.

Ashelin grinned at her husband when he stalked into their kitchen, looking worn out. Her hands were soapy and wet as she continued washing dishes, but that didn't stop Jak from saying hello. He smiled at her and placed a hand on her left hip; kissing her softly on the lips. "Hey baby. I missed you today." He growled playfully and nibbled at her ear.

The Governor laughed as Jak pushed her into the counter and proceeded to place feather light kisses on her collarbone. "Enough Jak," She gasped, pushing him away, inciting a look of disappointment on Jak's face. "You know we have company."

Jak sighed. He closed his eyes and placed his forehead against her shoulder. "Alright." He knew it was the rest of Daxter's family Ashelin was speaking of as Daxter had run off into the living room as soon as they had stepped into the house.

Ashelin turned around, drying her hands as she spoke. A knowing frown sunk into her features as she glared at her husband. "Okay, so explain to me what happened."

Jak leaned away from his wife and settled himself against the counter. "Three guards dead in the industrial section. Vin sent us over to the sewers because he got a pretty big surge of electricity coming from that area; fucked up his cameras and everything. Whatever caused that issue most likely killed the guards. Two of the guards were chock full of dark eco, and the other's neck was snapped.

Ashelin's frown deepened. She remained silent in thought for a moment as she moved to open the fridge. She tossed Jak a bottle of water and grabbed fruit from the drawer. "The only person I know who could do something like that is you. Do you think more metal heads got into the city?" The refrigerator door closed and Jak's haughty wife proceeded to grill her husband for more information.

"And do tell _why_ I was not notified sooner?"

"Because it happened twenty minutes ago, and because I discovered the crime scene? Don't get your panties in a twist."

Ashelin flipped him off and sealed it with a chaste kiss. Jak attempted to capture his wife in his hold but she pulled back and took a bite out of her fruit, smiling wickedly at her husband. "Okay, I will let that slide then. Now onto the dark eco user…"

Jak frowned in thought before speaking, "I don't think whatever did that to the guards was a metal head. A metal head would have done worse than crush the guy's face in…they would have mutilated the body. Looking at the video feed that Vin caught, it looks like there are three elves." Jak slowly sipped his water in pause anticipating the wrath that was about to fall upon him, "I also felt and smelled the dark eco still near the murder scene when I left. I have a feeling that these people followed Dax and I home.

Ashelin's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she stared open mouthed at Jak. "WHAT!" She fell silent, glaring at him as she moved towards the window. "You had to bait us didn't you?" Ashelin whispered harshly at him. She flipped the safety off her gun and side stepped the window, peering outside trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

"Don't worry, Ashelin." Jak crossed his arms and mused at her paranoia. "We'll be fine. I promise."

"Don't forget about Aiden." Ashelin snapped. "She's not home yet and we have to be at the Naughty Ottsel. In fact, I bet Sig is there already. We can't leave the King hanging. He's probably alone, and unfortunately with Mr. Pessimist himself."

Jak chuckled knowing quite well who she was referring to. "No, don't forget that Torn is with Aiden. Today is their training day. You know better than to worry about her. She can take care of herself; Sig is too laid back to care if we're a little late." Jak wrapped his arms around Ashelin's waist and kissed her forehead. "Aiden's safe. I could trust no one else but Torn to watch over her. I am worried, but I can't jump to conclusions until there is more evidence of who or what killed our men. Whatever is following us around will regret it."

Ashelin glanced at the clock over the stove, "I guess you're right…for once."

Jak gave her an incredulous look before releasing his hold on her. He pulled out his communicator, and directly contacted the power station.

"Y'ello?"

"Vin, how's the video feed look around the headquarters?"

"It's been a bit fuzzy, but it's not as bad as what happened earlier this evening. It's going to get harder to see what's going on after dark. Why'd you ask?"

"No reason. Thanks for the info." Jak turned his communicator off, and looked up at Ashelin. "Yeah, they are out there, but not close. This is a shitty game of cat and mouse. I know we should immediately be looking for these guys, but if they are powerful enough to do _that_ to our highly trained guards, then catching these guys is going to take time, and cunning to get at them. I'm not going in blind like I use to. Getting too fucking old for that." He paused, groaning and rubbing at his eyes. "Damn, I don't know why I'm so tired. I feel like shit."

"You're going to take a nap when we get to the bar, _old man_." Ashelin replied with a curt smile. She closed the curtains in front of the kitchen sink, and began finishing the dishes, promptly ignoring her husband.

"Oh? Okay." Jak chuckled, knowing that their conversation was now over. He made his way to the living room. No sense in arguing with a woman. He's learned his lesson living with two for twenty years but his friend Daxter, on the other hand, had not seemed to get the picture. Jak walked into the room into yet another fight between the Ottsel family: Mother and daughter versus father.

"You're being unreasonable!" Tess yelled at Daxter, throwing her arms up in frustration.

"I couldn't care less. She's not going with Aiden to Spargus City and that's final!"

"Dad, it's not like I haven't gone there before." Delilah leaned back on the arm of the love seat calmly, examining her claws in disinterest. Her father was being melodramatic. No surprise.

"Yeah, but you've gone with me, your mother, Jak, Torn, Ashelin, and Sig. Not ALONE with just Aiden to fend for you."

Delilah laughed at his comment, "Okay, well then let's get the facts straight, Pops." Delilah stood up. "One, I'm not going alone with just Aiden. Sig is going to be with us. Two, we will be staying with Sig at the palace, not out in the desert or the city; and three, I'll be going to learn…we can't forget that we're going to be educated. Who doesn't love education?" Delilah narrowed her eye at her father. "So I'm going." She jumped down the floor; walking past Jak she said "Hey Uncle Jak." before entering the kitchen to speak to Ashelin.

Jak flopped into the love seat next to Daxter. A shit eating grin graced his face as he watched the confused Ottsel, his mouth still open unsure of what to say. "I think you just got told by your own daughter." Jak chuckled.

"Damn it." Daxter frowned. "I hate it when they get the last word in... and are right." Daxter sat down and glanced at his wife who was calmly glaring at him from the chair across the living room. She turned to address Jak, "We need to get going, I left Jinx to watch the bar for an hour. I'm afraid the place will be blown up before we get back."

Jak nodded in agreement. He looked over at Daxter, "Ready to go when you are, bud."

Daxter scrambled up on to Jak's shoulder. "Always ready."

Jak and Daxter went into the kitchen. Delilah sat on the counter, chattering away. She looked at her father as if nothing happened between them. "Hey dad, can I stay and wait for Aiden?"

"Yeah, sure." Dax replied in a whiny, childish voice. He hated losing arguments but shook it off and regained his father authority. "Stay in the house until Aiden gets here and I mean it, Dee. Call me and tell me you're leaving so that I know when to expect you at the Naughty Ottsel."

"Whatever." Delilah replied, shooing her father off.

Ashelin glanced over in concern at Jak. She stood by the sink, drying her hands once again, and looking fairly annoyed. Reading her thoughts on the situation, he shook his head telling her that he wasn't going to tell Delilah and Tess about the guards just yet. "They'll be fine." He mouthed to her.

Throwing the towel in the sink, she grabbed Jak's hand as he walked by her, and they began walking out the door together. "I hope you're right." Ashelin whispered.

Jak's smile turned into a thin grim line as they made their way to their zoomer. He reached for the safety of his gun resting on his back. Whatever this thing was- it was most definitely not concerned with anyone else, but him. Somehow he wasn't surprised.

**A/N: Please let me know what you think so far? I am curious. :) R&R **


	7. Chapter 7

**I dedicate this chapter to the lone favorite I've recently received. Thank you, XxMusicChickxX. I appreciate you! :* I apologize for being behind on my chapter updating. My new job makes me work 7 days in a row, 2 days off, 8 days in a row, 4 days off - I get fried and completely forget. Do not fear, I did not abandon!**

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Aiden stepped outside through the doors of the academy and paused at the top of the steps. Dropping her backpack at her feet, she sighed heavily. She didn't care to notice the students walking past her in droves, staring at her as she stood completely still with her eyes closed in concentrated thought. The fading sunlight felt warm on her face as it sunk behind the city. For just those few moments, she felt at peace.

Opening her eyes, she watched the last bit of sunlight disappear behind a dark cloud filtering its way slowly across the skyline. Her heart thudded in her chest at the sight. Although Aiden was a very logical person and had a hard time believing in anything your average person would consider "luck" or "omens", she couldn't help but feel that those clouds were a sign of worse things to come. She pushed those thoughts to the side, hoping that they wouldn't resurface for a long time, if at all.

Her thoughts returned to the commander of Haven City and she cracked a tiny smile at the image of him. To confess her secret to Torn felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. She was surprised how well he reacted. She thought he would have an aneurysm on the spot, and immediately call her father. Aiden came to the conclusion that the imaginary brownie points were working their wonders. She didn't know how she earned them considering he treated her like a punching bag most days, but she definitely wasn't going to complain.

Her gaze moved to the cadets dressed in their crisp blue and white uniforms; the men with their high and tight haircuts, and the women with the classic french braids or low neck buns; they chattered and laughed quietly among themselves as they made the haul up to the school. They are the future of Haven City. She worked with many of the other cadets on and off the field. Although she knew very few by their first names, she trusted most with her life. Unfortunately, there were some in her class not worth risking the lives of the others.

Those few people were shady individuals that Aiden made sure to keep away from at all times. They were the ones who would do anything for attention from the rest of the class and from the teachers. They would back stab, hurt and whisper, attempting to claw their way to the top of the class. They were also the ones who whispered about her and called her Torn's bitch.

She hoped that those words never reached Torn's ears, ever. She was glad that she was done associating with class 79 for the most part, now finishing up what was left of her training in the confines of Torn's office or out in the field. Hopefully by graduation, the mess that was brewing in her mind would be dealt with and quietly. She knew of people who would have a field day at her expense.

Aiden bit her lip, hating that she kept coming back to the idea of being a monster and what would happen to her life when it finally came true. It scared her to the depths of her soul. She was one of the toughest people to cross through the halls of the academy and here she was afraid of becoming a monster. Her father had once told her that being human also meant feeling afraid, and feeling compassion and love for other people. If she couldn't feel any of those emotions then she should consider herself a monster from the get go.

To a point, she was thankful she felt all emotions known to the human spectrum, but she knew that having compassion and love wouldn't help her in the long haul. What she needed to learn wasn't a mental state, but control. She was good at dwelling on the negative: shame, anxiety, anger... loneliness - emotions that she wished she could be rid of on a day to day basis. Learning to handle her own mind would save her one day. She would have to speak to Seem when she made her to return to Spargus City. Maybe he would be able to help her; stoicism only did so much.

Aiden was jostled from her thoughts as a cadet, walking past, bumped into her. Mumbling an apology, the young man returned to his conversation with his classmate. He took notice of Aiden as he talked to his classmate. Aiden shook her head at her continuing periods of lack of awareness. It wasn't good, and she knew it. It could get her or someone else hurt or killed one day.

She stooped down to pick her bag up only to hear someone whistle in appreciation as at her as she did so. She straightened up immediately with her bag gripped tightly in her hand. She looked around with a snarl etched on her face for the person catcalling her. She couldn't stand any of the male students acting like the female students were pieces of meat to toy with.

The man who whistled closed in on her from the left. His body pressed up against hers, he whispered in her ear and moved his hand over her rear, squeezing lightly as he spoke. "Nice ass you have there." He purred into her ear, "Is Torn sharing at all?"

Of course, it was one of her sleazy classmates; one of the few who didn't deserve to fight alongside the others in the Freedom League. The pervert didn't catch the fury in her face, or her eyes momentarily dilating completely black. She dropped her bag again and turned, shoving him. She watched him stumble back, taken by surprise before she pulled her leg up and kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could. He stumbled more and caught his balance.

Aiden stepped away, and with a moan the cadet fell onto his knees wrapping his arms around his stomach in obvious pain. His head made contact with the cement with a sickening crack.

"If that's how you treat the women you're interested in then you got a lot of learning to do." She hissed between her teeth.

She pulled at her gloves and picked up her bag again making her way down the steps to go home before an all-out war rampaged into the streets. She could feel the storm in her head kick into frenzy. She practically flew down the steps, hoping to get away if anything would happen.

"Cadet Mar!" Someone yelled for her. She stopped in her tracks and felt her heart in her throat, knowing who it was that was tracking her down. She exhaled, attempting to calm herself down and about faced, standing at attention. Her thousand yard stare was perfection.

Torn jogged up to her with an exasperated look on his face, "What just happened back there?" His lips were thin; his eyes were glaring holes into her. He pointed behind him, closing in on her face, watching her closely as he did. She hadn't seen him that pissed off at her in a few months.

"Did you seriously just kick another cadet in the fucking stomach?" His voice was loud and carrying. He was showing off his authority like he was supposed to; other cadets stopped and watched the exchange.

"Yes, Sir, Commander Nolan." She replied in return. She paused momentarily, "Permission to speak, Sir?"

Torn looked back up at the group of people gathering around the other cadet; he was red faced and glaring down at Aiden and Torn. When he caught Torn's eyes, the cadet looked away; shame quite obvious on his face. "Permission granted." Torn studied the man on the stairs with narrowed eyes before he returned his gaze to the woman standing in front of him.

"I would like to say that sexual harassment deserves much more than a kick in the stomach, Sir." She replied bluntly. She stopped speaking and allowed Torn to process her words. She wasn't ashamed of what she did but she was ashamed that it could have gotten more out of control.

Torn's jaw twitched at her words. He scrubbed at his face in momentary thought. When he finally spoke again, a sense of calm judgment radiated from his voice."You will have a disciplinary hearing tomorrow morning at 0800 Hours. If you do not appear at your hearing, you will be charged with assault and removed from Haven Military Academy. Is that understood cadet?"

"Yes Sir." Aiden replied tersely.

"Carry on." Torn waved her away. He backed up and watched the young woman strap her bag on her back before taking off on her hover-board, not looking back at the commander. He turned around and marched up the steps to find the other cadet.

Truth be told, Torn saw everything that happened between Aiden and the sleazeball. He was just stepping outside, ready to make his way home and change into his civilian clothing. He was looking forward to sitting down and enjoying a tall one at the Naughty Ottsel; maybe even be able to talk to Tess about opening a new gun course for the school.

He thanked a student for holding the door open for him while he attempted to pull his jacket on. He had stuffed the cookie he had grabbed from the staff room in his mouth, and tugged at the leather to straighten it out on his arms.

As he stepped out of the doors, he saw a familiar figure standing on the steps. A younger man was attached to her side; his hand moved slowly down her back and came to a stop on her backside. The entire scenario happened too fast for Torn to react as she immediately shoved him away and kicked the cadet for good measure. Torn heard Aiden speak caustically to the cadet on the ground before she snagged up her bag and made her way down the stairs.

It finally clicked that he needed to get his ass in gear to catch up with her before people start to wonder why he was even a commander in the first place. He stuffed his half eaten cookie in his jacket pocket, and sprinted down the stairs to the young woman fleeing the scene.

When he had finally caught up to her, she looked as normal as could be. No dark eco in her eyes, none sparking over her body. Torn took time to study her as they spoke. The lousy kid deserved what was coming to him, Torn knew that, but he had to punish both parties in the matter; follow the academy rules or lose his job.

He could feel the tension rolling off of Aiden in waves as she stood at attention. When he sent her off, he noticed that she did not look back at him. He hoped that he did not offend her with the disciplinary actions. He had to do his job and she had to finish school just like the rest of the academy: daughter of the Governor or not. This isn't going to be her first rodeo with the disciplinary committee.

It was time to deal with the cadet. When Torn reached the top of the stairs, he looked at the people milling about. "Who saw what happened?" Several hands shot up at his question. He glanced around at all of the cadets who didn't raise their hands and threw his thumb over his shoulder, "Beat it."

He waited for the non-witnesses to leave and spoke, "Alright, here's the deal. I need you all to be at my office tomorrow morning, bright and early at 0700 hours. You will all receive witness reports to fill out. It will allow the disciplinary committee and myself to net out the punishment for the two cadets involved in the fight tonight. I saw exactly what happened so no bullshitting your reports."

"I know your faces. If you don't show up, I will come find you. Also, what you saw is what you saw, what you heard is what you heard, but if you try to get either student in more trouble than what they are already in, you will also receive disciplinary action as well. Is that understood?" The cadets replied with a resounding Yes, sir before he dismissed them, leaving him with the injured cadet still looking pitiful sitting on the ground.

Torn looked down at him with disdain obvious on his face, "You had to grab her ass, didn't you, Cadet Whal?" He snarled at him before picking him up.

"I didn't do anything." Whal replied. He didn't look at Torn as he helped him stand up.

"Obviously you did, or you wouldn't have gotten a boot in your stomach, right?" Torn smirked; he directed the cadet back into the building in search of the nurse's station. Whal grumbled in response.

They walked in silence, Torn's grip on the cadet's arm was painfully tight but there was no complaint from the injured man. They came upon the nurse's station, and Torn knocked on the door, hoping that Nurse Shian was in. He didn't look forward to taking his student to the hospital if she wasn't.

The door opened. Nurse Shian was a small middle aged, soft-spoken woman; her glasses were perched on the tip of her nose, with dark red curly hair swept back in a side ponytail. The blue scrubs she wore were covered in bright yellow smiley faces. Torn rolled his eyes at the sight of her scrubs and she smiled merrily at the tall man standing grimly in front of her.

"Commander Nolan, what can I do for you?"

Torn pulled Whal in front of him. "He got kicked in the stomach tonight by another student. Could you check him over and make sure he's not too badly beaten up?" Torn gave a wink to the nurse before glaring daggers at the back of Whal's head.

Shian giggled slightly, rolling her eyes at the irritated man and replied, "Of course, Commander. Come on Whal, let's see what kind of damage you got here."

She directed Whal to the patient room, and helped him remove his jacket and undershirt before making him lie down on the table. She observed a deep red bruise in the middle of Whal's stomach.

"Oh my, what happened cadet?" She pushed on the tender flesh in search of broken bones and ruptured organs, to the displeasure of the cadet. She motioned for Whal to sit up, which he did so gingerly. She began taking his vitals as he spoke.

"I got into a fight with another student."

Torn's eyebrows shot up in disbelief at the blatant lie. This kid was ridiculous. "Tell the truth, Whal." Torn said, giving him an irritated look.

"I-I fondled a female student from behind." Whal replied glumly, his face turned red and he looked away from the nurse and commander.

Shian and Torn looked at each other knowingly. She already knew that it was Aiden who did this to him. She was one of very few female students that didn't put up with harassment that seemed to be incredibly rampant the last couple of years. It was getting to the point where the first sign of sexual harassment meant immediate expulsion from the academy. Of course, Whal didn't seem smart enough to understand just how precarious his chances of staying in the academy were as he committed the act either way.

_Well, at least he felt some sort of shame from his actions_, Torn thought, _but it doesn't mean he won't do it again to someone else. _

Tomorrow, Torn hoped Whal would at least be held back from graduating this year. The last year in the academy was pure hell. It was no road trip for any of the cadets. If he couldn't get Whal kicked out, than he'd be satisfied with Whal being held back, and he'd make sure to make the cadet's repeated year was worse than Hell.

Torn sat down on a stool in the corner of the room. He sighed, scratching at the shadow of a beard on his jawline. He was so ready to relax. He stuffed his hands in his leather jacket, feeling something in his pocket; he pulled it out and smirked. His cookie: still intact. Hell yes.

"Let's get you x-rayed, patched up and you should be free to go cadet. Am I correct, Commander?" Shian looked up at Torn. She smiled at the sight of Torn nibbling on a cookie in the corner of the room.

Torn didn't care, it was really the only thing he ate that day. He just wanted to get his report taken care of so he could go have a beer and something real to eat. "Yes, Ma'am." He replied. He winked at Shian and finished his cookie off, dusting the crumbs off his fingers and pants.

He directed his attention to Whal. "Cadet Whal, before we finish up here, tomorrow morning is your disciplinary hearing. I will expect to see you at 0900 hours. If you are so much as a minute late or do not show up, you are expelled from the Haven Military Academy, and you will be arrested for sexual assault, is that understood?"

Torn could visibly see Whal swallow nervously before he replied, "Yes, Sir." He did not look into Torn's face once.

Torn smiled brightly, patting Whal heartily on the back, inciting a small grunt from the disgruntled student, "Good. Now let's get the x-rays taking care of shall we?" 

* * *

Aiden weaved through the crowds of people within the slums. She ignored the cries and shouts from the irritated people around her as she moved. She was stewing on the idea that she had to have a disciplinary hearing tomorrow, on a Saturday... when she was supposed to go to Spargus early in the morning.

She just hoped that her parents didn't blow up when they found out she got into a fight again. Maybe Torn would butter them up and let them know exactly what went down before she even laid eyes on them. Aiden scoffed at the idea. Fat chance. She knew he'd probably be late with the paperwork he had to do now because some moron had to touch her ass and call her names. After many encounters with other male cadets, you'd think they would take the hint and leave her the hell alone.

Jak most certainly had passed on his cool temperament to his daughter, but it was the anger issues that got her in trouble the most as a child. It was the main reason she was in the military academy. Ashelin and Jak hoped Torn would tame her a bit. He had proven quite successful over the last five years watching over her from the shadows and sometimes as a teacher.

He once kicked her out of a firearms class because she mouthed off to him. He didn't mess around when it came to teaching, and Aiden being the daughter of his best friend did not make her any more important than the rest of the class. She had a world of hurt coming for her when Jak found out what she did that day.

Aiden smirked at the memory, remembering that she didn't speak to Torn for about a month after that - stubborn to the core, the both of them. Ashelin had actually forced Torn to join the Mar family for dinner to make the pair talk to each other again. The intense silence didn't last very long as Torn almost choked on his food. Aiden snorted and laughed at him as he coughed up a lung.

He followed with pretending to scratch his forehead, giving her the finger in the process. Aiden and Jak both cracked up. Her mother glared at all of them, rolling her eyes and calling them all children, but she smiled all the same as the student and teacher soon began talking like nothing had ever happened.

Finally at the edge of the slums, Aiden looked up at the darkening sky; thunder growled and echoed through the city, threatening rain. She stepped off her hover board deciding that it'd be best to run home. She was faster on foot and had to get to the Naughty Ottsel as soon as possible which was literally on the other side of the city. She strapped her board to her pack and began legging it to her house near Freedom HQ.

Minutes later, Aiden walked up her front porch. She unlocked the door and opened it quietly, finding the house silent and dark; the only light on was a fluorescent bulb flickering haphazardly above the sink in the kitchen. Her family had probably made off to the bar already.

She dumped her belongings in the corner of the hall by the front door, and sprinted up to the bathroom. Barely five minutes had passed when she walked down the stairs, freshly showered and clothed. She sat down on the stairs and relaxed for a moment, attempting to place her watch back on her wrist in the process.

"Ahem."

Puzzled, Aiden looked over into her kitchen, her eyebrows furrowed, hand on the knife sitting on her right hip. Delilah stood on the breakfast table smirking at her.

"Hey Dee, I didn't even know you were here," Aiden relaxed, and smiled, happy to see her furry companion. She motioned for the ottsel, "Come on, we have to go, I got a meeting to go to."

She began to blindly struggle to put her boots on through cold wet hair plastered against her face. She really hated wet hair. Especially when it soaked her shirts around her neck and shoulders, but she had no time to dry it properly.

"My dad let me stay and wait for you." Delilah stood up, leaping down to the smooth wooden chair almost slipping in the process, and then to the floor, making her way towards her best friend. "So... how was the date with the prince of sexiness?"

Aiden pushed her hair out of her face and looked up Delilah as if she had grown a second head. It then dawned on her was she was talking about. "You're talking about Torn aren't you?" Aiden smiled coyly at her furry friend.

"Oh, you got it." Delilah scrambled up onto Aiden's shoulder. "That man makes my skin crawl, in a good way... even if he hates me."

Aiden shook her head at Delilah as she grabbed her belongings from the floor. "You of all people should know that it wasn't a date, Delilah. And you know he doesn't hate you. He just finds you annoying. He feels the same way your dad." She opened the door and slammed it shut behind her, locking it in the process.

Hopping over the porch railing, she landed lightly on her feet next to the small garage her father built into the side of the house. She opened the door, passing through the dark threshold in search of the button to open the automatic door. The garage door slid up and allowed her to push her zoomer out into the open. She slid on and turned the key, enjoying the feel of the powerful machine start. She returned to the garage to close it and lock up.

"I don't know how he can find anything about this annoying." Delilah waved her hand in front of her body in emphasis and gave Aiden an all knowing look. "Anything involving that man is a date in my opinion." Delilah replied. She sat on Aiden's shoulder, crossing her legs, and digging her elbow into Aiden's temple to the displeasure of the young woman.

Aiden frowned and pushed Dee's elbow off her head. "Do disciplinary hearings count as dates?" Aiden laughed nervously as she returned to the zoomer, setting off in the direction of the bar.

A moment of silence followed her question. Delilah sighed, "What'd you do this time?"

Aiden kept her grip on the handlebars as she switched levels of traffic, passing over people walking through the streets. Her eyes were focused as she thought of her answer. Was she really that bad to the point where the question was so rhetorical? It wasn't like she tried to find trouble. It found her.

"Uhh, I kind of kicked a guy in the stomach for feeling me up." Aiden replied cooly, the thought of that pervert made her grit her teeth. She could almost feel his hands still lingering on the small of her back.

"Seriously?" Delilah replied. A toothy grin erupted on her face, "So, a guy finds you attractive and you throw a fit? Sounds about right."

"Hey!" Aiden barked. "You weren't there, were you?" She directed her gaze between the street and Delilah, eyes twitching furiously back and forth in concentration. "If you would have heard the things that bastard was saying to me, you would have done the same."

"And lemme guess, your brooding hero came and saved the day?"

"Actually, no. Torn got in my face and threatened to expel me from school because I hurt that moron. Does that make you feel any better Dee? Does the fact that I may be arrested and tossed out of the academy make you feel better? "

"Actually it does." Delilah replied, "It means my chances are still good with Mr. War Hero."

Aiden laughed heartily at Delilah. She loved her narcissistic friend's wretched enthusiasm; she kept things so much more interesting. "You're impossible Dee. If there was ever a person to think for herself, it had to be you."

"Well hey, if you're not going to make the moves on him, someone has to. I bet that man hasn't be laid in years with the way he works."

Aiden rolled her eyes at her lewd friend."Here are a couple things to ponder Delilah." Aiden sat back in her seat on a long stretch of road and lifted a hand in emphasis, her gloved fingers counted out her points.

"Torn is one of my father's best friends. Could you imagine the world of shit that he and I would get into if something were to occur between us? He is my teacher. He would get fired for being involved with a cadet. Also, he's about twenty years older than me. He's old enough to be my father." She paused and gave Delilah an asinine look. "I'm pretty sure that math equals off limits. Am I right?"

"In your reality it does." Delilah mumbled, put off at the facts of the situation. She crossed her arms and actually went silent.

"You just want me to look for trouble Dee. I'm not that bratty troublemaker anymore. Sorry. As much as I love getting into messes, I'd rather not destroy any relationships with our families and friends for a man."

Rain began to drown the city just as Aiden and Delilah hit the business district. "Great." Aiden muttered, pushing her soaked hair out of her face. She pulled her goggles over her eyes, wiping the condensation away as she did. She looked down at the zoomer gauges, flinching at the cold stinging her face. Rounding a corner into the open air of the ports, she sighed in relief to be so close to her destination.

The Naughty Ottsel's neon sign burned brightly in the dark gray skies. Lightning continued to flash and the thunder rumbled as the pair stopped the zoomer on the side of the Naughty Ottsel and ran inside. Up on one of the water towers across the Naughty Ottsel, Gol and Maia watched the young female versions of Jak and Daxter walk through the front door to the bar.

"It's uncanny, the resemblance that girl has to that bastard. She even has a rat on her shoulder." Maia spoke sarcastically, sitting on the pipe with her legs crossed and her chin in her hand, looking slightly bored. She was oblivious by the rain soaking her to the bone.

"Yes it is-" Gol muttered, observing the pair below curiously.

Maia sighed with impatience and leaned back to glare up at her brother. "I'm already tired of playing hide and seek! The only person who could know who we are is that maggot and his rat. I think that if we're going to kill the boy we might as well get it over with and go kill him; we should not be doing any of this damn sneaking around!"

Gol balled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. Hundreds of years of impertinent whining. He was beginning to regret letting her live past the first one hundred years. He turned and squatted down in front of her, eyeing his sister with pure disdain. "For once, shut. up. Follow me, and I'll do all the work."

Gol knew exactly what he wanted for Jak. He wanted torture, pain… pleas for mercy. He wanted Jak to suffer as much as possible before he finally died in their hands. The last thing Jak would ever see before he died would be the Acheron twins smiling down at him in a long awaited satisfaction. That thought of it sent pleasurable shivers down Gol's spine. And after the hero's death, Gol and Maia would be able to do something about this disgusting new world they were forced into.

"We've waited this long, I think we can wait a little longer."

Ignoring the anger emanating from his bratty sister, Gol gasped slightly as he as he floated off the tower, and closer to the road. He was beginning to feel weak. They would need to return to the silo for more dark eco, and soon. This new world was so strange and empty of eco. He barely could feel any in the air. What has happened to this world since their disappearance?

As Maia had mentioned, he also felt that girl walking into the bar below would be the answer to his problem. He just had to find out who exactly she was to Jak and Daxter, if she was anything.

"Do you know that girl, Miss Rayn?"

Gol addressed the woman huddled against the slippery piping, trying not to fall into the dark water a distance below. Rayn clung to the water tower, tired, cold and annoyed, the trembling snark evident in her voice. She didn't even look at the girls to know who they were speaking of. She would not say anything, the fear of what would happen clutched harshly at her stomach making her sick.

What had she released onto the world?

"No - just another rebellious teenager with a pet, probably trying to get someone to buy her a drink, I'm sure. Can we get off this damn water tower now? I am freezing."

Gol didn't even acknowledge Rayn's answer and complaint as he continue speaking as if he weren't interrupted. "Jak knows we're here." Gol thought out loud. That answer was obvious the moment Jak directed his attention toward the unseen siblings on the roof earlier. "He just doesn't know who is here. I'm sure he wasn't expecting us, just as we weren't expecting him." Gol turned back to Maia, "Let's send a message. I feel a little more chaos will be helpful in our study of Jak and his friends. I'm sure you can agree, Maia?"

Maia smiled wickedly at her brother before floating toward him. "I can never turn down blood and violence." She turned her gaze at Rayn. "Wait here, woman. Enjoy the show. Don't even think to escape because I will find you."


End file.
